


HIUA - The End

by DoveQueen



Series: Heroes - Elena Gray [3]
Category: Heroes - Fandom, Heroes Reborn
Genre: Betrayal, Canon-Typical Violence, Death, EVOs, F/M, Gen, Specials, Third book, powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 22:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11217123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoveQueen/pseuds/DoveQueen
Summary: After the little "incident" in New York, Elena has been put under house arrest until James is in custody. But memories of what she helped to cause are still fresh in her mind, and she knows she'll never be able to sleep soundly until she catches him herself.





	1. Chapter One

I ran down an alley, my black trench coat flaring behind me. I was splashed with water as I rushed through a puddle, but I didn't so much as slow down.

A figure ran in front of me. They were dressed in a similar outfit as I, right down to the combat boots and jeans. They even had on a baseball cap. But it wasn't a doppelganger I was chasing, for this was a boy with blond hair.

I put on a burst of speed and flew through the air, tackling the boy to the ground. We scuffled for a moment before I pinned him by his shoulders. "You're not getting away from me this time, James!" I growled at him, then took his baseball cap off.

But the face staring up at me wasn't James'. "You're no better than he is," the girl said, and I stood up off of her and took a step back. She stood up as well and advanced towards me. "You know you're not, Elena. You're a murderer and a psycho, just like he is."

"I'm not like James!" I protested.

"But you are," she said right into my ear in a whisper. She then pulled back and shot me a crazy grin before grabbing my throat. "If you weren't, then why did you destroy New York City? If you weren't, then why do I even exist?" 

"You don''t exist!" I choked out at her. "You were never real! I was just confused and scared."

"But I'm oh so real," the girl replied, the grin turning into a smile as she lifted me into the air. I gasped for air, clawing at her hand. "And I'll get back out eventually."

Then the other me slammed me down into the concrete.

 

I woke up with a start, gasping for breath. _It was just a dream,_ I thought to myself as I sat up, my hand clutching my throat.

"What's wrong, Elena?" Logan asked, sitting up besides me.

"Nothing, just a nightmare," I murmured, breathing slowly as to calm my beating heart.

"We'll, you're alright now. Just lay down and go back to sleep," Logan said soothingly, putting an arm around me.

I put on a fake smile and leaned up against him. "Sorry for waking you."

"It's fine," he said with a small grin before laying back down. He was fast asleep again seconds later.

I curled up and faced the door to my room, still trying to slow my heart rate. I'd been plagued with nightmares since my... _Trip_ to New York City three weeks ago. Though they were all similar, they still scared me.

With a huff, I rolled back over and faced the ceiling. I'd been stupid to listen to James and to let it out, I knew that now. Things had been sorted out though and NYC was being rebuilt. Of course, I was still benched from working at the Company. I didn't blame them, all the 'normal' workers, as well as the Evo ones, were scared of me still.

Things would be alright if James wasn't still on the loose.

The Company had sent out dozens of teams and field agents to hunt James down and bring him in, though all had come back with zero intel on where he was, let alone James in custody. It was driving me even more insane than I already was.

Quite a few times, I'd gone out to search for James myself. I knew that the nightmares wouldn't go away until James had been caught, and who better for the job than me, his old accomplice? But most of the time I was caught by the Company before I made it too far. They didn't think I should go out searching for James until I've regained complete control over my powers. As they said, "it was safer for everyone that way".

It was stupid in my opinion, because I had the ability to locate anyone I thought about. Just by imagining James' face, I could give a pinpoint accurate place where he is. But of course, the Company didn't care, because they had three other people who could do the same thing.

Yet they still couldn't find him.

So this is where I was now. Under house arrest until the boy who helped to destroy New York City with me was caught and put away forever.

Really though, I should be put away with James too. I was a monster with a hunger to murder and cause destruction. I shouldn't be allowed to play out a normal life with my family and boyfriend. I didn't deserve it.

I fell back asleep wondering if anyone would be truly sad if I was locked up on level five with the other psychos.


	2. Chapter Two

I was already awake the next morning when Logan woke up. I'd been awoken by nightmares twice more, and had given up on sleep around three in the morning.

Logan was one of the safety precautions the Company had taken to keeping me under control. He was my boyfriend and an Evo, who's power was super strength. I didn't want to hurt him, but if I tried then he'd be able to hold me back until someone could knock me out or calm me down.

He was actually supposed to sleep in a guest room down the hall, but he'd convinced my dad that he should be allowed to share a room with me. Said it would be easier to keep an eye on me that way.

My dad had reluctantly agreed, though he said Logan had to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. He did for the most part, but sometimes when the nightmares were really bad he'd slip into bed besides me. I was grateful for it. It was easier to cope through the night with him than alone. I think my dad knew we shared a bed sometimes, but he never made a comment on it.

"Morning," Logan greeted as he stood up and stretched his back painfully. I'd never gotten used to sleeping on a soft mattress after living on the streets for two years, so I'd gotten one that was rock hard.

"Good morning," I murmured back as I brushed my brown hair.

"Sleep alright last night?" Logan asked, coming up behind me and giving me a hug. "I only heard you wake up once."

"Got more sleep than usual, but still not a lot," I replied, setting down my comb.

"You seem a little shaky. Need a hug?" Logan asked.

"I'm not shaky, just tired," I grumbled. "And you're already hugging me."

"I was offering to hug you for extra long," he laughed, then let go of me.

Logan went into the bathroom to get a shower and I got dressed in my morning clothes. With Logan, my dad and my brother in the house, we didn't have much hot water on demand. I was the only smart one and got showers before bed so as to get a nice and steamy shower at night, rather than an ice cold one in the morning.

I slipped on my black hoodie over my black tank-top after putting on my jeans. I put some socks on because it was a bit chilly, then grabbed my hat and my watch before going downstairs.

My dad was in the kitchen cooking breakfast, a 'kiss the chef' apron on and a pair of glasses, though he didn't typically wear them. I'd noticed that since everything in New York, he'd been trying to act more like a dad, rather than a workmate and friend like he was before.

"Hungry for waffles?" He called as I walked into the kitchen, baseball cap on and just latching on my watch.

"Not really, though Logan will probably eat my share." I didn't eat. It was just something that I didn't have to do on a regular bases like most people. Sure, I ate sometimes, but that was more out of boredom than anything.

Besides, my brother Tommy and I were two out of three triplets. So he was sixteen like me and Logan seventeen now. They ate enough combined to feed a small army. My dad would die from exhaustion if he had to feed another teenager regularly.

I plopped down at the table with a yawn as Tommy walked into the room, yawning as well. He rubbed his face tiredly then sat down at the kitchen counter, pulling a plate of waffles towards him and shoving bites into his mouth without a word.

Tommy was a tall kid with short blond-brown hair. Dirty blonde, basically. He had a funny grin and big ears. Really didn't look much like me, despite us being two of three triplets.

"Good morning to you, too," my dad said, rolling his eyes as Tommy shoveled food into his face.

A few seconds later, Tommy pushed back his chair from the counter and got up. "Gotta get to school," he said, giving both me and our dad a quick hug. Our dad didn't mind if we skipped school sometimes, or, in my case didn't go at all, but Tommy liked to keep up his old routine.

"Alright," my dad said. "Anyone coming over with you tonight?"

"No, but I'm going to head over to Emily's for a bit after school if that's alright." Emily was Tommy's girlfriend, who'd moved to Texas a few weeks back. She'd originally lived in Illinois, but since Tommy now lived with us full-time she had wanted to be closer to him. Much like Logan, who'd lived in Indiana before moving in with us.

Tommy had been living with his adoptive mom part time as well, but they had some trust issues and he preferred to be with us. He stilled popped over every now and then, though. More than I can say about myself and my old family. But that's an entirely different story.

My dad nodded to Tommy. "Just be back for dinner," he said to Tommy, who nodded quickly then touched his hand to his shoulder and teleported out of the room. Tommy, like all other members of our family, was an Evo. He could take another Evo's ability by making contact with them while they use it, and he'd been born with the power to teleport.

"So," my dad said, looking over at me. "You have any plans for the day?"

"Just gonna hang with Logan today. Not sure if he has any plans for us or something," I mumbled.

My dad sighed. "I know it stinks being under house arrest, Elena, but you'll be able to come back to the Company soon enough. Nathan and Noah are even considering making Logan an agent, if he's up to it."

"You keep saying that but you and I both know that it'll be a very, _very_ long time before anyone trusts me enough to have me back on the team," I say with a slight growl. "If it were up to Angela, I would never be allowed back. I'd get thrown onto level five and left to rot."

He didn't reply to that, just proving it was true.

Angela Petrelli was my great grandmother, and believed me to be a devil. She had a dream, her power was seeing the future in the form of dreams, a little over two years ago around the time I was born, which foretold I'd destroy the world. I had actually helped to save the world at one point, but she still didn't believe I had good in me, even after all this time.

And yes, I was born two years ago. There was a bit of time travel involved and, in short, I was only meant to be two and a half at the current date, when I was actually sixteen. Tommy and our sister Malina were also sent back in time and raised by foster families as I had been.

Logan came into the kitchen a few minutes later and I stood up to greet him. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek before looking sheepishly over at my dad. "Morning, Sylar."

"Good morning, Logan," he replied, grinning. My dad's name wasn't Sylar, it was Gabriel Gray. But during a low point in his life, he'd become a serial killer, killing people with abilities so he could gain them himself. At the time, he'd taken on the name Gabriel Sylar, or just Sylar, and had since then insisted on us calling him it. I thought it was a way for him to punish himself, as he saw the name as a scar.

But now that I was a murderer too, I hated using the name. I stuck with 'Dad' for the most part, or Gabriel. I didn't want to throw salt on his wounds when he wouldn't do it to me.

Logan sat down at the counter and quickly ate three waffles before getting up. He wiped his face on his shirt, a habit he knew I hated, then turned to Sylar. "Mind if I take Elena out for a bit?" He asked politely. "She looks almost albino, having not been outside in weeks."

Sylar thought for a minute before sighing, giving him a nod. "Sure. But I expect you guys to be back in at least three hours. I'll come hunt you two down myself if you don't turn up."

"Thanks Sy," Logan said with a grin, then grabbed me by the hand and pulled me outside.

"Where are we going?" I asked him as we walked down the front steps.

"You'll see soon enough," he replied with a grin.


	3. Chapter Three

Logan refused to tell me where we were going, so I wasn't able to fly us to our destination. Instead we walked like a pair of neanderthals... Using my legs stunk.

We eventually wound up in the trashier part of town, walking past various family businesses. A few of them had signs in Spanish, and I felt a bit of frustration boiling inside of me as we passed. I'd been forced to learn Russian, German, French and Japanese as part of my training to be an agent. Yet no one thought of teaching me Spanish.

After walking around for half an hour, Logan pulled me around a corner and we came out into an alleyway. It wasn't like a dark alley of New York or other big cities. The buildings that backed up to it were shades of tan and peach, the ground was fairly clean and it was very sunny. For an alley, it was kinda pretty. It also looked a bit familiar.

"Why'd you bring me here?" I asked Logan, turning to face him.

"You and I both know that you'll go psycho if you're not allowed to go after James," he told me. Psycho was our term for when I had an uncontrollable urge to murder. "And, well, I did a bit of snooping in Sylar's work papers yesterday. Molly thought she had located James right around here."

My heart seemed to skip a beat. "Really? But, Logan, Dad would kill you if he found out you brought me here!"

He laughed. "No offence, but I could snap your dad in half if I wanted to. Besides, you want to do this. I hear you wake up at night, and I don't have to be a mind reader to know you blame yourself for all this." I was looking at my feet, but Logan lifted my chin so I'd look him in the eye.

"James was a psycho in disguise. We knew he was a bad guy out for revenge, but no one could have guessed he was going to kill thousands of people and rage war on humanity. You can't blame yourself for who he is. But you can stop him from doing any more damage if you put your mind to it.

"I think it's wrong of the Company to bench you," Logan said simply. "You know James better than anyone. You know how his mind works and, along with your powers, you're the most able-bodied person there is to catch him. So I'm not going to sit around and watch you mope. You want to catch James and I want to do _something,_ so why not?"

"What would we be doing?" I asked, looking over at the alley. I shivered as I remembered my nightmare from the night before; the alleyways looked near exact.

"Molly thought James was somewhere around here. The Company already scanned over the place and didn't find him, but I think he's here, hiding. So, let's just do a quick run-through and see if we can spot any clues as to where he's at. If we find him..." He paused. "Let's just try to bring him in alive."

Despite how nervous I was to be out here once again looking for James, I felt excitement bubbling up in me. Logan was right, I did want to catch James. Plus, if I brought him in, I might be allowed back on the field. I began to grin and Logan smiled at me. "That's my girl. C'mon now, let's go catch ourselves a psychopath."

 

Logan and I searched the alley for two hours, finding nothing strange but part of one of the brick buildings on the ground, like a chunk of a wall had fallen off. This gave me hope though, because James' ability was controlling rocks and such. He could've broken the chunk of the building off to use to defend himself- or to attack someone.

There was also a pile of white dust in the alley, though neither of us could figure out what it was. Logan nearly tasted it to see if it were salt, but I'd convinced him not to.

After that, we returned back to my house. This time I teleported us there so as to save energy by walking. I was really relieved when we left. That alley gave me the creeps, considering how much it looked like the one I'd dreamed about. Sure, my dreams sometimes came true, but that one wouldn't. So finding the same alley to a dream that should never come true... That was just strange.

We were greeted by a very happy Sylar as we stepped inside. "You guys are an hour early," he said, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"The ice cream parlor kicked us out," Logan lied. "Said we were eating too much." He looked over at me and grinned. I raised an eyebrow at him and he faked a sigh. "Alright, they said I was eating too much." The two of us had become unusually good at lying, and though Sylar was literally a human lie detector, he could never see through the webs we spun.

Sylar let out a short laugh. "Is that so?" He said, overcome with another laugh. "You know," he said after a moment of awkward silence. "Back when I first joined the Company and Peter was trying to get the last bit of craziness out of me, I got us banned from nearly every cafe and bakery in town."

"Really?" I said, laughing.

"Really." He grinned. "I kept threatening the staff. 'If you don't get my order exact, I'll have to murder all of the people in this building'," he said, mimicking a raspier voice he used when trying to scare us.

"You actually said that to them?" Logan said in a surprised tone.

"Yup." Sylar was still chuckling a bit. "I really was nuts.

"Anyway," he continued. "What you two up to now?"

"We were going to go up to my room and smooch," I said with a grin and added shrug. It was a lie and I let on that it was.

Sylar squinted at me. "Liar. What are you two actually going to do?"

I forced a sigh. "We were going to brainstorm ideas about James," I replied. It was a half-truth, so better than an all-out lie in my book. I wanted him to think he knew what we were doing, in case I actually went after James. That way, he wouldn't suspect anything was up till I was long gone.

He shook his head sadly. "Alright, you two go do that. But you've really got to realize that the Company is taking care of James, Elena."

 _If the Company was taking care of it, they'd have James by now,_ I thought to myself angrily.

"I heard that," Sylar muttered. He could read minds, just as I could.

I rolled my eyes then grabbed Logan by the hand and dragged him upstairs. Once we were in my room, I shut the door and plopped him down on my bed.

"So. You think I should go after James?" I asked as I paced in front of Logan.

"Yes," he replied simply.

"He's already killed me once."

"Which means it's unlikely he'll kill you again."

"Dad will ground me until I die if I run off again."

"He won't have reason to ground you once you've come back to the Company a hero."

"James will probably be hard to find."

"Not impossible to."

I stopped pacing and squinted at him, arms crossed. "If I go, you can't come along."

"And why not?" He asked, standing up.

"Because if James kills you, that's it. You're gone. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I led you to your death."

"You can just give me a shot of your blood," Logan suggested. "A needle full of that and I'll heal right up."

"It's unlikely I'd have needles on me at the time, and who's to say you won't be kidnapped and tortured before they kill you? You could be locked up across the planet and I wouldn't be able to locate you because you'd be dead. I couldn't heal you."

Logan sighed. "Fine. I'll stay. Someone's gonna have to cover for you here anyway," he said with a small grin, but then became dead serious. "But you need to go. I can't stand seeing you like this. It's like you're dying a little more every day. The only way to 'save' you is to catch James."

"So what do I do?" I asked him, beginning to pace again.

"Hey, you're the one with the library of powers. Use some of them, hunt him down, bring him in. Shouldn't be too hard- I mean, you've already manged to hunt down your entire family. What's one person?"

I sighed. "So I'm actually doing this? I'm running off again without telling anyone but you? _Again?"_

"That's how it usually works," he said with a grin. I couldn't help but grin back.

I stopped pacing and gave him a hug. "Don't let my dad come after me, okay?" I told him.

"I won't," he assured me. "You be safe though, alright?"

"I can't promise anything," I chuckled, then stood back.

"Well?" Logan said, looking at me expectantly. "You off?"

"Not yet," I said, walking over to my closet. "Gotta decide on something important first..." I pulled a trench coat out of my closet and held it up besides me, comparing it to my current outfit. "What do you think? Evo Terrorist or Serial Killer this time around?"


	4. Chapter Four

After Logan explained to me that he was not a fashion expert and really not the person to ask about clothing, I'd decided on wearing the trench coat. It just looked cooler. So I kicked Logan out of my room and got changed, pausing for a few minutes to admire myself in the mirror.

When I let him back into the room, the two of us got straight down to business. "I should be able to locate James fairly easily, since other Company members have been able to and I'm basically the best there is." I gave Logan an 'I can't help who I am' look before continuing, "So I'll be able to set right off. Once I'm gone, just try to stall everyone as long as possible. I know you're not good at lying under pressure, but try to put some effort into it?"

"I'll do my best," Logan promised, rolling his eyes. "How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"I'm betting a couple days, maybe a week," I replied after considering this. "Assuming I'm not caught again. And if the company starts following me then I'll take longer still, since I'll have to avoid them."

Logan rubbed his face as he processed this. "I'm not going to be able to lie to everyone for a whole week. Your uncle and dad will get suspicious and try to locate you, then that'll be it. But I should be able to keep them from going after you for a day, maybe two. That is, if you don't mind me calling you a moody and upset teenager?"

I patted Logan's head, giving him one of my sarcastic smiles. "I've been called worse. You tell them whatever you have to, to keep them from coming after me."

He nodded. "So, when are you leaving?"

"Now. For real this time."

Logan took a step back from me and, after I made sure I had my music player with me, I gave him a little grin. "See you on the other side," I muttered, saluting him before teleporting from the room.

 

Last time I left, I made the mistake of telling my brother I was leaving. This time, I did no such thing. I probably, hopefully, wouldn't get any unexpected visitors on my trip because of it. That'd make things easier. And if Logan held out with his lying for at least a few days, I'd be set.

From my room I teleported back to the alley. I knew it was risky staying so close to home, but I wanted to do a quick scan of the place before I left. I had a nagging feeling we were missing something, and my ability was telling me James was in fact still around here.

The block of concrete painted to look like bricks was laying to my left, so I walked over to it. I ran my hand over the side that'd been deepest in the wall. It was smooth, as if it'd just been scooped out, rather than chipped off.

It was a good sized rock, too. Useful for throwing at people.

I brushed my hand off as I stood up from inspecting it; the rock was coated in that dusty stuff. Since I didn't know what it was, I really had no wish to keep it on me.

I looked around the rest of the alley slowly. There wasn't anything interesting there. Really, there were just a few doors and a dumpster that was empty. No where for James to hide.

I was preparing to leave when something suddenly occurred to me. The shops on either side of the alley, Logan and I hadn't checked for James in them.

Hope surging within me, I left the alley and entered the shop on the right.

The store was actually a market that sold primarily Hispanic type-foods. I saw only one employee, the man at the check out, so I walked over to him.

"Excuse me," I said, causing him to turn. He was older, his face wrinkled and eyes tired. He was balding, and what little hair on his head he had left was graying, but he did have a large black mustache. "I'm looking for someone. Have you seen this boy?"

I pulled my phone from my pocket and showed him a picture of James and me. We were grinning, arms around each other's shoulders. My stomach churned with disgust just thinking about it.

The man began to say something in Spanish, but the expression on my face must have made it clear that I couldn't understand him, because he just shook his head "no."

I gave him a small smile, putting the phone back. "Alright, thanks anyway." Then I left the store.

The other store was actually empty, a big for sale sign in the window. Upon seeing this, I just teleported myself inside. No point in picking a lock when I didn't need to.

The place looked like an old cafe. There was a counter and a few tables with chairs flipped over them, some bookshelves with nothing on them and a sign pointing towards the restrooms. Besides the counter was a hallway that led into the back. After I inspected the main area, I followed it.

Down the hall I found an office/break room with nothing in it besides a beat up couch, an old blanket and a pair of those saloon doors that you just push through.

Tilting my hat, I stuck my thumbs through the holes meant for a belt on my pants and walked through with my best imitation of a cowboy.

What surprised me was directly on the other side, James stood with four other people. Three of them must have been siblings, since they looked exactly alike. The forth was bound and gagged, sitting on a counter. He noticed me first.

When he started grunting at me, either to ask for help or to tell me to run, the others noticed me. James looked surprised to see me for a split second before he threw himself to the ground and the others open fired.

There was plenty of cover, the kitchen still being fully stocked, but I didn't duck down. I raised my hand and the guns flew from the men's grips, flying through the air towards me and landing on the ground at my feet. Upon raising my other hand, the men were unable to move. The bullets that had been shot already fell to the ground.

All the while, my gaze was trained on where James had just ducked down behind the counter. "You know," I said, walking over to it. "The Company was completely wrong. You are _incredibly_ easy to find."

James poked his head up from behind the counter, just far enough to look at me. "Didn't I kill you?" He asked with a growl, his British accent thick.

I shrugged. "What _is_ killing, really? If you mean you shot me in the face, then yes, you did. But here I am. Did you miss me? Admit it, you missed me."

James stood up fully now, his grin nothing but sarcastic. "Yes, I missed you. Just about as much as I miss having the flu."

I put a hand up against my cheek and tilted my head at him, giving him a big smile. "Aw, I knew you cared."

He rolled his eyes, walking slowly over to the frozen men while dragging his hand along the counter. "What is it that you want?"

"What do I want?" I asked, acting like I was thinking the question over. "Well, actually, I think it's pretty obvious? I'm going to take you back to the Company and get my job back."

"You were fired, then?" He asked with a laugh.

"Just benched for awhile..." I grumbled, then gestured to the men still frozen besides James. "By the way, who are these guys? You working for someone now?"

The tied up man was still trying to get my attention, but both James and I were ignoring him. "Guess it depends on what you consider working for someone," he said with a shrug, picking up a knife that lay besides his hand. "These guys though, they work for me. I can even do whatever I want to them."

To my surprise, James turned to the man closest and brought the knife down on his knuckles. The force of the blade cut off two of the man's fingers and deeply cut the others. The man could still move his face, but he barely showed any sign of pain.

"Here, catch," James said, having caught the fingers and now threw them at me.

I ducked to the side, looking at James in disgust. "Why'd you do that?" I asked as the fingers hit the wall behind me.

He shrugged. "Because I can?" He dropped the knife down and shot me a grin. "Not like I did any harm, anyway."

I was about to ask him what me meant, but as I watched, the man's hand healed itself, fingers themselves even regrowing. 

My eyes widened. "Oooh, new power, gimme gimme."

James gave me a pitying smile. "I'm sorry, but you shouldn't be able to absorb this power, seeing as these are but clones." His smile broadened. "Like them."

Suddenly, I felt two pairs of arms grab me from behind and I let out a scream. My concentration now broken, the once-frozen men sprang into action. One pulled out a gun that'd been hidden in his belt, the other two grabbed the tied up man. As he began to shoot at me, the other two ran out a side door, the bound man struggling to get away.

Bracing myself against the bullets that pierced my torso, I concentrated and managed to teleport behind the two holding me. The bullets hit them in the chest and stomach, and upon impact they turned to dust.

The dust spread out on the ground as the two crumpled, bits of it getting on my shoes. _Good thing I kept Logan from tasting that stuff earlier..._ I thought to myself, but quickly snapped back into action. I ducked down and rolled across the floor to the cover of another counter as more bullets rained down on me.

The lone gunman kept firing until he ran out of bullets, upon this I heard rapid footsteps as he and James left through the side door.

Jumping up, I dashed across the room and followed them outside.

The door led out into the alley, where a delivery truck was waiting for them. The back was open, the other clones sitting in it with the bound man at their feet. The remaining one jumped in the back and they shut themselves in as the car slowly began to roll forward. 

James was slower than the others though, and as he ran towards the passenger side of the cab, I tackled him to the ground. "You're not getting away from me this time," I growled, holding him down by the shoulders.

He opened his mouth and said something, but I didn't hear it. A ticking was filling my ears.

 _No, not now, please, not now,_ I thought in anguish, taking my hands off of James and putting them on my ears. Why did this have to happen now?"

Seeing his chance, James shoved me off of him, me putting up very little resistance and just falling against the concrete as I fought to keep the hunger at bay.

A demeaning smile on his face, James stood up quickly and took off towards the car that was creeping away from us. He threw open the door and jumped in, the car picking up speed but a moment later.

As they drove away, I remained where I was on the ground, tears squeezing themselves out of my eyes as the ticking enveloped me.


	5. Chapter Five

I managed to calm myself down awhile after James and the others drove off, just managing to fish my music player out of my pocket and get the earbuds on.

Now that I was back to my normal self, I was leaning up against the chunk of wall, music player in hand and a frown on my face. James had been right there, right in my grasp... And he got away. If only I didn't have that _stupid hunger!_ It was more trouble than it was worth, and because of it, James was who knows where now.

Well, technically, I knew where he was. But to get an accurate point, I'd need a map, and my power wouldn't take into account that he was in a moving vehicle. I'd have to wait a few hours and try to pinpoint him once it's likely he's stopped.

Until then though, I needed to get out of here. Being so close to home was making me anxious. But where would I go?

I couldn't think of anywhere. There was home, which I couldn't go to. There was Tommy's mom's house, which I probably shouldn't go to. There was Tommy's girlfriend, Emily's, house, which would probably be a bad idea to go to as well. Then Logan was living with us and I couldn't just pop over to Primatech for a few hours.

I was running through places in my head when I suddenly got an idea.

 

The oak leaves swayed in the breeze above me as I walked down the sidewalk. Familiar houses and fences lined either side of the road, filling me with a sense of home I hadn't been able to feel anywhere else.

It'd been a long time since I'd been back here purposefully. The last time had been after the world forgot about Evos, but before James and I set out for revenge. I'd come over for her birthday.

I walked up the stone steps and onto the tiny porch. In a force of an old habit, I stomped my feet then reached for the doorknob. I caught myself just in time though, knocking on the door instead.

I heard footsteps approaching the door after a few seconds of silence from inside. A moment later, the door opened, reveling a familiar face. "Hi, mom," I said sheepishly.

 

We sat on the couch a few feet away from each other, a cup of tea in each of our hands. My adoptive mother smiled at me happily as I took a slow sip from mine, her eyes pure joy.

When I'd been sent back to the past as a baby, I was adopted by her after her first husband had died. She'd wanted someone there with her, too afraid to be on her own. Then she'd married again and had three more kids, and her husband picked on me because I wasn't his.

Soon after I left to search for my biological family, she'd divorced him. The kids stayed with her, and now he was living somewhere in California with a buddy. I was happy for her. The guy was the very definition of a monster, and she was better off without him.

But I was worse than him now, so what exactly did that make me?

"I'm so happy you came to visit," Mom said quietly. "We've really missed you around here. How is your work going in Texas?"

I'd told my mom I was going to help people after something "really bad" had happened in Texas when I first left. My cover story for leaving was still being a volunteer there. "Good, really good," I said evenly, taking another sip of tea. "I've got a bit of time off, so I thought I'd stop by."

"Well I'm happy you did," she said, taking a drink of her tea as well.

"How have things been with everyone?" I asked, trying to make conversation that wasn't revolving around lies.

"Your brother has a job now," Mom said happily. I assumed she was referring to my eldest brother, John. "He's working at the auto shop downtown. Olivia and Jacob also got on the honor roll this week, we're really proud of them."

"Good to hear," I said, giving her a small smile.

She smiled in return, but it wavered as she looked at me. "Hun, is something bothering you?" She asked after a moment. "You don't look completely here."

I began to shake my head "no", but I stopped myself. Instead, I hung my head and uttered a quiet sigh. "I have a lot on my mind," I murmured.

"Would it help to talk about it?" She asked quietly, scooting over to put an arm around me.

"I just..." I sighed again. "I made some mistakes, Mom. I've been trying to make up for them, but no one trusts me now. Then, I finally got a chance to fix things, and I blew it. I have no idea what to do."

Mom gave me a quick hug. "People take time to regain trust, but they will, you just wait. And don't let one failure get you down! You can't succeed at everything. Just give it another shot and I'm sure you'll get it right this time. And if you don't... Third time's the charm. Don't give up."

Things weren't as simple as that, but I knew that, in the long run, she was right. I just needed to get my confidence back and try again, and this time I'd spend less time talking and more time taking him down. It was just James, after all. It wouldn't be hard.

"You're right," I told her with a crooked grin. "As usual."

"Yes, I am," she said with a smile. "Now, it's getting late. You staying the night?"

"I will if you'll let me."

"Of course I'll let you," she chuckled. "You're always welcome here. One thing though..." She trailed off.

"What is it?"

"Your bedroom door has been locked this entire time and we haven't gotten around to hiring a locksmith. You'll have to make a bed on the couch."

I grinned. "No worries, I can get in there no problem."


	6. Chapter Six

Once we'd finished our tea, I went upstairs and stood outside my door. After making sure no one was around, I teleported into the room then opened it from the inside.

The room was just as I had left it. There were the clothes I'd been wearing my last day here in a pile on the floor by my closet. My bed was neat and nicely made, and the contents on my desk-mirror-combo were organized. The room would have looked spotless, if it wasn't for the torn up pieces of posters strewn over everything.

On the wall to my right, the words I had painted were there, the red paint shining like blood just like they had years ago.

I bent down and picked up a still mostly intact poster, on which the actor who played Sylar stood on a skyscraper overlooking a city.

I looked from the poster to the words painted on the wall and sighed. Why did I have to trash everything before I had left? Standing up, I walked over to the wall and stuck the poster up, using the tape still on the back of it.

Once the poster was up, I rummaged through the other scattered pieces, gathering the most intact of them and using them to cover the painted words. Eventually, though it looked messy, I got it covered up. Once that was done, I gathered up the remaining scraps and threw them in the trashcan besides my desk.

After I was done, I stood there in the middle of the room for a minute, unsure of what to do next. It was about this time when I heard a loud _"thump!"_ from directly behind me.

I spun on my heel, hands blaring energy, ready to fight off whoever showed up. I let it die down though when I saw Sylar standing there.

"What are you doing here?" He asked angrily.

"What are _you_ doing here?" I countered, keeping my voice low as I shut my bedroom door. I didn't want Mom coming in to find a TV show character come to life.

"What do you think? I'm bringing you back home. We're leaving, now," he made to grab my wrist, probably to teleport me away.

"No," I said, raising my hand. His arm froze mid-grab, him now unable to move. "I'm not going back. Not yet." Why was he even here? Could Logan not even cover me for a day?

He struggled to move, but couldn't break the grip I had on him. "You need to come back, Elena. You're too unstable to be out here on your own, you could lose it again and hurt someone." He kept his voice even, though he was still clearly angry.

"The only reason I'm 'unstable' is because I can't get a hold of my self while James is on the loose," I said through gritted teeth. "I can't sleep, I can't eat even if I wanted to, and it feels like I'm getting depressed. I'm _not_ the kind of person who gets depressed easily. And I'm going to stay like this, probably until I catch him."

"Elena..." He sighed. "You can't do this on your own."

"I can, and I have to," I replied. "This is all my fault. Hundreds of people would be alive right now if I had just listened to you guys. And anyway, I can catch him. I found him, Gabriel, back in Odessa." Sylar looked surprised. "He was right where Molly said he was, hiding in a closed down store. But he wasn't alone. He's got goons with him now and they were kidnapping someone. I think he's working for people now, and that means he's even more dangerous."

"What did you do when you found him?"

"I caught him, and then... I lost him." I grimaced. "The hunger kicked in. I let him go so I wouldn't kill him. But I know that if I find him again, I'll get him for sure! I just need some time, and for you guys to put some trust in me."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "I do trust you, Elena, really. I know you're having trouble and blame yourself for all this, but you don't have to catch this boy. The Company is taking care of it. Just come home, please. I don't want anything to happen to you again."

The memory of being shot by James and almost forever-dying flashed through my mind, but I pushed it aside. "If you trust me, then just let me do this," I said quietly, letting my arm drop to my side. I hung my head. 

Sylar didn't make a move to come towards me. "I really messed up trusting James, and I feel like this is all my fault. I was the one who made the plan in New York, I was the one who brought us everywhere. Though I didn't personally kill them, I had a hand in those people's deaths, so I'm just as guilty as he is."

I looked up at him, my eyes pleading. "This is my one chance to prove to everyone that I can do the right thing. I can catch James, _and_ bring him in alive. I just need a chance." A tear began to roll down my cheek. "Please, Dad. I want to prove to everyone I'm good."

Slowly, Sylar walked over to me. When he reached out, I expected it to be to teleport me home, but instead he gave me a hug. "I can't stop you, can I?" He muttered, ending with a sigh. 

"I have to do this," I replied, my voice coming out a little strangled sounding as I held back more tears.

"I know, I know," he sighed once more before letting me out of the embrace, keeping his hands on my shoulders. I wiped my eyes as he looked at me sadly. "You don't have to prove you're a good person though, Elena," he said. "Good people make mistakes sometimes. You were confused and scared and hurt, and that's why you helped James. That doesn't make you a bad person. And hey, if I were in your shoes, I'd have probably done the same thing."

He let go of my shoulders, instead running his hands down his face in exasperation. "Ugh. I'm really bad at this comforting thing, aren't I?" He sighed. "What I'm trying to say is... We're your family, and we don't hold what happened in New York against you, because we know you're a good person."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," I said with a small smile. "But you'll let me do this?"

He gave an over dramatic and long sigh. "Yes... You can go after James."

"Thank you." I wanted to hug him, but I felt like I was going to start crying again, so instead I just gave him my biggest smile and concentrated on staying tear-free.

"I can't make any promises that no one from the Company won't come after you," he told me as he began to walk around my room. He stopped by the posters and looked at the one of him with a grin. "You know that persuasion thing doesn't work on Noah much, or the Haitian. They'll probably send people after you soon, but they'll have to walk, because Peter will be on board and he can probably convince Hiro as well." He began to chuckle. "And I doubt Nathan will want to fly everyone after you."

"Well, I'll be on the move by tomorrow," I assured him, still grinning. "Just needed a place to kill some time while I waited for James to stand still for a bit."

He nodded without looking back around at me, turning over a corner of one of the posters to expose a patch of red paint. "So, why'd you choose to come back here?" He asked, acting as though he weren't entirely interested in an answer.

I shrugged, walking over to him and flicking his hand so he'd stop messing with the posters. "Just wanted to visit everyone, plus it seemed like the only place where no one would rat me out." I tilted my head at him, crossing my arms. "By the way, how'd you know I was gone so quickly? You don't really check up on me at home."

He rolled his eyes when I flicked his hand, instead walking over to my desk. "Logan told me, actually," he said, not to my surprise. "About half an hour ago. Just ran down the stairs all in a panic and said you'd gone after James."

Okay, that surprised me. "What?" I asked, my voice a bit shaky. "Why would he do that? He's the one who _suggested_ I go after James."

Sylar gave me a helpless shrug. "Maybe he had second thoughts after you left?" He suggested as he turned to face my bedroom door. "Hey, your old family home? I'd just _love_ to have a chat with good ol' dad." He said this with malice in his voice.

Pushing aside thoughts of Logan, I quickly shook my head, jumping in front of the door. "Mom divorced him after I left, dude," I told him as he eyed the doorknob. "He's not around anymore. And you'd better not go say hi, she might freak out if you let it slip you have powers."

He laughed. "I wouldn't let it slip." I gave him a "really?" look until he sighed. "Okay, you're right, I probably would. Just wanted to meet the people who raised my daughter, geez."

"You can do it some other time," I promised before ushering him away from my things. "For now though, you've gotta go cover for me at the Company. I'm about to go to bed and I don't want to wake up to a bunch of agents kicking down the door."

"Fine, fine," he grumbled, walking into the center of the room. It was always better to teleport when you weren't around anything, or else you might take it with you. "Just let me know you're alright sometime, okay? A call never hurt anyone."

"Will do," I promised as I backed up. "See you after I catch a psychopath."

"See you then," he said, rolling his eyes before vanishing from the room.

After he was gone, I almost crumpled over with relief. Sylar was just _barely_ more stable than me when it came to the hunger, unless he was preoccupied with something like watch making, which helped him block it completely. I just didn't feel comfortable with him meeting my family with the knowledge he could lose it around them.

I took a moment to be glad he was gone and that I got his go-ahead for getting James before I got ready for bed. I didn't have a toothbrush, so I just gargled some water then got changed, having found a pair of old pajamas in my closet. They were small, but they would work.

Once clothes and such was taken care of, I crawled under my old sheets and drifted off right away. For once in a very long time, I slept the entire night.


	7. Chapter Seven

I was gone early the next morning. No one in the house was awake yet, so I left a note for them, explaining I'd been called back early to "work" and had to get going. I hated having to lie to everyone, but I really didn't want to get them involved with the Company and everything.

Since I didn't have a map, I couldn't get a pin-point accurate location of James, but I knew the general area he was in. He was in Colorado from what I could tell, somewhere around Midian. I'd been there once before, when I was searching for Sylar. I hadn't had reason to go back before, but I guess I did now.

I teleported straight to Midian, arriving in a park, then channeled my ability to locate James. It pointed me north, so I started walking.

Considering my outfit, I must have looked odd walking around the streets. Black everything, long trench coat, baseball cap on, walking with purpose and avoiding eye contact with all passersby. I wouldn't be surprised if a few people thought I was a terrorist. Just hoped I wouldn't get...

... Arrested. Before I could finish my thought, I heard police sirens drawing near me. With a sigh, I stopped walking and leaned up against a streetlight, waiting for them to either pass or stop in front of me.

It was the latter. Two cars stopped, not the usual police car, but rather black Crown Victoria's with one of the spinning lights stuck to the roofs above the passenger side windows. Undercover cops. Cool. Never been arrested by them before.

"Hands above your head!" Shouted a familiar voice as the police stepped out of the car. I obeyed, rolling my eyes, as I was approached by the driver of the first car. I was surprised to see that it was Audrey Hanson, a woman from the FBI I'd run into awhile back.

"Audrey?" I asked with a laugh as she roughly turned me around and cuffed my hands. "I thought you worked in California?"

"Transferred recently," she muttered before turning me back around to face her. "Are you armed?"

"If I was, I probably wouldn't tell you," I pointed out.

"You did last time."

"True." I shrugged. "Haven't got anything on me this time around, though. Never got around to replacing the knife you confiscated from me. Seemed like a waste of money, since I had just bought that one and all."

Audrey didn't seem to buy it. She snapped her fingers, motioning towards me. "Pat her down," she said to the men who'd come out of the first car.

The two quickly holstered their guns and began checking me over for weapons. "Got something," one said, a guy with a black buzz-cut. He pulled my music player from my pocket.

"Ah, I sorta need that," I told him. As if on command, he began to hand it back to me.

"What are you doing?" Audrey asked, snatching it from him before he could complete the action. "All items must be confiscated, Parnell!"

The man, Parnell, shook his head as if he were coming out of a daze. He looked confused. "I know, I'm... Not sure why I did that," he muttered.

Audrey was looking worried as the other man stopped the pat down, having not found anything else besides my phone. She pocketed the items then motioned for the two to take me to her car.

I was unceremoniously shoved into the back seat as Audrey got in the front. Bars separated the back and front seats, so she wouldn't be able to give the music player back, even if I commanded it.

The other agents, or cops, I wasn't sure if they were police or FBI, got into the car behind us and together the cars began to drive. To my dismay, we turned around, heading back the way I had been coming from.

"So, what am I in for this time?" I asked with a yawn.

"You are being arrested for the murder of Casey Brown and possibly being associated with the serial killer, Sylar," she replied, not taking her eyes off the road.

"Casey Brown..?" I thought about this for a moment before snapping my fingers. "You mean that lady at the bank, right?"

She sighed. "Yes, that lady at the bank. Can't you even remember the names of the people you kill?"

I shrugged, looking out the window. "I never really got her name in the first place," I said, then something occurred to me. "By the way, you didn't tell me my rights before arresting me. Aren't you supposed to do that?"

"That's the police, I'm FBI," she replied.

"So you get to arrest people without telling them their rights?"

She didn't reply.

I wasn't sure if that meant "yes" or "no", but I let it drop, instead striking up a new topic. "So," I said, "How'd you find me so quickly? I've only been in town like... Ten minutes."

"Parnell and Roy were patrolling when they got a call about a suspicious character near the park. They gave me the description then I left the station to see if you were any of the guys we've been looking for lately. Guess I just got lucky, seeing as it turned out to be you."

I waved my hand, pretending to be flattered. "Aw, I'm lucky I got arrested, seeing as it was you who got me," I replied, laughing. She didn't even acknowledge I said anything.

We pulled into the station a couple minutes later, Audrey escorting me inside since the other two had left to continue their patrol. Once inside, I was taken by two armed and really muscular men to an interrogation room. They sat me in a chair, took the cuffs off of me then put new ones on that were attached to the table. Then I was left alone.

There was a rule in the Company that you cannot use your powers around those who didn't know about them unless it was a life and death situation. I had never really obeyed the rule, but since I wanted to get on good terms with the Company again, I didn't use my powers to break out of the station.

Instead, I sat there, quietly humming to myself to make sure the hunger didn't kick in. I must have looked insane to whoever was watching me on the security cameras.

Eventually though, Audrey entered the room. She sat down on the chair in front of me, hands on the table. "I don't want you pulling another one of those disappearing acts like last time," Audrey growled at me. "I'm not sure how you did it, but if you do it again, next time you're arrested, I will put you away for good without a trial."

Last time I had run into Audrey, she was arresting me in California, having been spotted outside a school covered in bullet holes and blood. I'd escaped the station after she'd begun her interrogation, teleporting away right in front of her. 

My buddy Matt Parkman had been present, so I assumed he used his mind mo-jo to cover up exactly what I did to Audrey, to make her think it was more of an escape than a sudden vanishing. 

I'd honestly thought he would have erased the _reason_ I'd been arrested from her memory, too, but I guess it just slipped his mind.

"Can we just hurry this along?" I asked Audrey with a yawn. "I have somewhere to be."

She eyed me suspiciously. "And where is it you have to go?"

"Well, you see," I told her, clasping my hands together on the table before me and shooting her a smile. "I was recently, actually, no, not recently, it was before we even met, but anyway, I was hired by a company awhile back. Very nice company. We hunt down the bad dudes and keep society safe from them."

She laughed. "Odd job for someone like you to have."

I frowned. "Just ignore what I did for a minute, Audrey. I was going through stuff then," I told her, my expression becoming blank. "Anyway, there's a runaway agent from the company who's been kidnapping and killing people around Texas. I'm looking for him, and I have reason to believe he's here. I need to catch him before he leaves." Not entirely true, but not all a lie.

Audrey stared at me, her expression one of boredom, disbelief and dislike. "You really expect me to believe that story? Working for a secret company that arrests criminals? Hunting for a murderer?" She gave a loud, sarcastic laugh, then slammed her hands on the table again. "Tell me what you're really doing here, Gray. Are you out to murder again?"

I raised my hands as high as the cuffs would allow, trying to look innocent. "I told you the truth and you can either believe me or hook me up to a lie detector. Take your pick."

 

I shouldn't have given her the idea.

Audrey had left seconds after I said that and had returned with another man and a lie detector. He set up the machine then hooked me up to it, sitting down in a chair besides it once he'd finished to watch the readings.

"Let's start over," Audrey said. She was standing in front of the table, her hands behind her back as she looked down at me. "Your name?"

"My name is Elena Madison Gray, but I used to go by Elena Madison Hill, until I had it legally changed," I told her simply.

She glanced over at the man who nodded, a sign to notify her that I was telling the truth. "Good. Your age?"

"My age is rather... Complicated," I said, thinking about it. "I'm sixteen, nearing seventeen, but I've only had two legitimate birthdays."

"Born on a leap year?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

The machine said I was being truthful, so she continued. "What is your association with the serial killer known as Sylar?" I could tell she'd been wanting to ask this one.

I pretended to ponder this for awhile. "I do not know a serial killer," I eventually said, looking her in the eye. "I know a man with a complicated past who did things he now regrets and tries every day to make up for. What is he, in association with myself? He's my father."

Since I was keeping myself calm, the machine's readings said that I'd spoken nothing but the truth so far. I had been speaking the truth, but I had no doubt that if I decided to lie, it'd stay the same.

"Do you know Sylar's whereabouts as of this moment?"

Making sure to ignore my ability, I shook my head. "At this very second, no, I don't. But he's most likely out there covering for me while I hunt down that agent, like I asked him to."

The machine didn't change. "Why does he have to cover for you?" She asked.

I shrugged again. "Officially, I'm benched from field work in the Company for the time being because of some things. But I'm the only one who can find this guy, so Sylar, my uncle and some buddies of ours are covering for me for a couple of days while I track him down. My time is limited, so that's _kinda_ why we need to hurry this along."

Audrey seemed surprised that the machine's readings had remained the same. "Do you plan on making any more killings any time soon?" She asked, dropping the subject of the Company again. Though the machine read it as true, she clearly still didn't believe it.

"No," I replied.

The man by the machine looked at Audrey and shook his head. A triumphant grin spread across her face as she looked back at me. "You're lying."

"I am?" I asked, honestly surprised.

"Yes. Now, who do you plan to kill?"

"I don't know," I said honestly, thinking about it. "I mean, there's plenty of people I could kill, but no one I really want to. Even that agent. He almost killed me, killed a lot of innocent people, and kidnapped a man just yesterday, but I wouldn't kill him. I'm not like that any more."

"Right," Audrey said, rolling her eyes. "You're not like that _any more._ How many did you kill before you decided to turn over a new leaf."

I had to consider this, looking at my fingers. "Well," I muttered. "There was Casey, that man, and all those people in New York..." I trailed off, looking up at Audrey. "The man I killed in self defense. He was shooting at me and nearly killed my brother. The others I was not directly responsible for. It was James, that agent I'm after, who killed them all. I am in some way responsible though, since he was my old partner."

"Killings in New York?" She questioned. "I haven't heard about any killings there recently."

I waved my hand dismissively, which was rather hard due to the cuffs. "It was a few weeks ago, during that, ah, earth quake. It's when he went a little crazy and went rogue. Almost killed me when I tried to stop him.

"By the way," I continued, tilting my head at her. "You're really wasting our time here. That machine proves I'm telling the truth, which means I am trying to catch a relentless killer that's loose in your town. Yet, you're keeping me here, asking a ton of pointless questions, while he could be out there killing innocents. Is this how all interrogations are?"

"It doesn't matter if you're after a killer," Audrey said, her voice just below the volume of a yell. "You've admitted to murder multiple times, so after this you're going into a cell till we figure out what to do with you. And if there is a real murderer, you should do your duty as a citizen and tell us where he is so we can take him down."

I gave her a smile, slowly shaking my head. "Oh, no. I'm not telling you where he is. He'd kill you all quicker than Sylar could, since he's got guns and goons with him now. Best if you guys didn't get involved.

"And anyway," I continued, giving her a more friendly smile. "If I am indeed being thrown into prison, can I have my one phone call?"


	8. Chapter Eight

"Heya, Pete," I said into the phone, grinning though I knew he couldn't see me.

"Elena, hey. Your dad was just here, he said you've gone after James again?" Peter replied, sounding worried. "You know that isn't a good idea."

I shrugged to myself. "I got his permission to do it, it's fine. Plus I've tracked James down."

"That's good news, but, why are you calling? Not that I don't want to talk to you," he said quickly, "I just figured you'd be focused on getting him and getting back here."

"That's the thing," I said sheepishly. "You know how I was arrested by the FBI when James and I were trying to get revenge and stuff on you guys for erasing my memories?"

"Yes. Like I could forget something like that."

"Well, the lady who arrested me that time found me again. I swear I wasn't doing anything wrong," I added. "She just wants to throw me in jail for escaping the station last time and that whole 'path of violence' I was just getting on."

"And what do you want me to do?" He asked hesitantly.

"Well," I said, twirling the cord to the phone around my finger. "I don't want to use any powers to get out of here, since I really _can't_ use them without people noticing. I'm being watched very closely. So, I was hoping you could pop over and give me a hand. You know, turn on the ol' Peter charm and distract them for me?"

He sighed. "I wonder how many times a niece has asked their great uncle to break them out of jail." I could imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Fine. I'll be over in a bit."

"Thanks, Peter," I said with a big smile. "I appreciate it."

"Yeah, yeah. Next time you get arrested, you need to do the time," he said this in good humor before hanging up.

Audrey walked into the room as I hung up the phone. I was no longer in the interrogation room, rather than a space barely bigger than a janitor's closet with lighting just as dim. "You finished?" She asked, though it was clear the phone was back on the wall.

"Yeah," I replied, walking over to her and holding out my hands. She cuffed them again, then escorted me to a holding cell down the hall. In it was a bench with a pillow on it and a light, behind a wall of glass and a heavily locked glass door. Very cozy.

Once I was inside my cell, Audrey continued to walk down the hall towards the front desk to fill out paper work. She was still in range for me to read her mind, and my sensitive hearing allowed me to hear her pen on paper, and the sound of the station door opening.

"Hey," I heard Peter's voice coming from the front, and grinned. I hadn't told him where I was, so he'd probably run to the nearest map, located me using the same ability I used to find James, then teleported to the station. "I'm looking for someone that might've been arrested today?"

"There's a lot of people who have been arrested today," Audrey replied as she filled out the paperwork. "Be more specific, please."

"Her name is Elena Gray, does that help?"

The entire station fell quiet, or at least it seemed to. I wished I could see what was going on down there, but even with my face against the glass, I could only make out Audrey's right foot. She was turned, facing the door.

"Why do you need to find Elena Gray?" She asked.

"She's my niece," Peter said, obviously doing that goofy grin of his. "I wanted to make sure she was alright."

"You can't check her out, if that's what you're here to do," Audrey said with a huff. "She's being arrested for man slaughter and association with a serial killer."

"Could I at least see her?" It was clear Peter was getting annoyed at Audrey.

She huffed. "Follow me," she said stiffly, then began walking back towards me.

I hurriedly stepped away from the glass and sat on the bench, directing my gaze towards the security camera. I had just stuck my tongue out when Peter and Audrey came into view.

"Hiya, Pete," I said with a grin, looking away from the camera. With the turn of my head, it changed angles, being directed down the hall instead.

"Hey, kid," he said with a huff, crossing his arms. "You seriously need to learn how to keep out of trouble."

I held up my hands innocently, cuffs clanging together. "Hey, I was just walking down the street like a normal person. I did nothing to deserve this, this time."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, _this_ time."

Audrey was standing a foot or so away from Peter to his left, eyeing him suspiciously. "Hey, do I know you?" She finally asked after we'd fallen silent.

"Do you not know who you know?" I asked her, grinning. The two ignored me.

Peter shook his head slowly. "No, I don't think so?" He said.

Audrey nodded her head. "Yes, I do know you! You're the man we arrested at that Texas high school, the night Sylar murdered that cheerleader," Audrey said, snapping her fingers. 

He grinned sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. Nice to see you again."

She wasn't grinning though. Instead, her eyes were narrowed as she thought. "Didn't you read Matt Parkman's mind?" She asked quietly.

"From what I remember, he read my mind first," Peter pointed out.

"Oh," I muttered to myself, leaning back against the wall. "I'd forgotten you two had met before." That'd actually been one of my favorite episodes of Heroes.

"Hold up," Audrey said suddenly, hand on her forehead as if she had a headache. "You're her uncle, and her dad is Sylar. So are you his brother? I remember questioning you and you said nothing about that."

"It's a complicated family tree," Peter said with that grin again, "But I'm related by her mother's side, to keep it simple. I didn't even know him back then."

"But you know him now?"

"Yes, we've met. He's a much better man now."

"He's still wanted for over twenty murders," Audrey said, crossing her arms. "If you have information on his whereabouts, you're going to have to come with me."

"I said we've met, not that I know where he lives," Peter pointed out.

Audrey was about to say something, but I snapped my fingers at the two of them. "Hey, is this another interrogation?" I asked. "Because if it is, please take it somewhere else.

Peter looked at me sideways. _What do you need me to do?_ He asked without speaking, his voice ringing through my mind.

 _Just lead her back towards the front. I took care of the cameras, I just need her distracted. Give me two minutes, then leave the building,_ I replied in similar fashion. This escape wasn't going according to plan, since Audrey knew who Peter was, but it could still work.

"I'd actually better go," Peter told Audrey after nodding his head slightly. "Since I can't bail her out, and since she's alright, I really have no reason to be here, do I?" He chuckled, looking at me. "I'll tell your dad where you are, or maybe your grandpa. They'll sort things out," he promised, then walked down the hall.

Audrey remained where she was until there was a loud _"bang!"_ from up ahead. Papers flew past me in a sudden burst of wind.

 _What did you do?_ I asked Peter as Audrey ran towards the front of the station.

 _Made the doors fly open, sent her paperwork flying everywhere,_ Peter replied quickly. _You'd better get out of here._

"Where did that wind come from? Here, let me give you a hand," I heard Peter saying in good humor a second before I closed my eyes and stopped time.

The power I'd gotten from Hiro Nakamura allowed me to teleport, stop and slow down time. Stopping time took a lot of effort though, and even more to keep it stopped, so I rarely used it.

Time being successfully frozen, I teleported into the hall then ran towards Peter.

The room looked like a tornado had hit it, papers here and there and frozen all over. Audrey and another staff member where frozen on the ground, midst picking up the paperwork. Peter, however, was standing and looking at me.

"Why'd you pause time and not just teleport?" He asked. Since he had the power as well, he couldn't be frozen.

"Needed to get these back," I told him as I reached Audrey. I gently pulled my phone and music player from her pocket and returned them to the ones I normally kept them in. I then stood up and gave him a sheepish grin. "I also wanted to say thanks, for helping me out."

"It's no problem," Peter said with a shrug. "You need to catch James, and you can't do it from prison."

I gave him a quick hug. "Well, thanks again," I said with a laugh, then stepped away to teleport.

"Hey, one thing before you go," Peter said, looking at me with his head tilted. "Why didn't you call your dad to come help you?"

I shrugged. "I barely got his go-ahead to go after James, so I didn't want him to change his mind. I mean, I would've kept searching for him anyway, but it's nice not having to lie to him." I grinned. "Plus, I don't think he and Audrey would have gotten along."

He laughed. "Yeah, probably not. Good luck catching that kid, Elena," Peter said.

I gave him a final grin before teleporting from the room, time starting up once more the second I left.


	9. Chapter Nine

From the station, I teleported right back to where Audrey had picked me up. I broke the handcuffs off of me then quickly pin-pointed James' location. Lucky for me, he was right around where he had been before.

It was late afternoon now and starting to get chilly. I was really thankful for my coat as I ran along the streets towards where he was.

But even my coat did nothing against the chills that ran up my spine as I rounded a corner.

Ahead of me was the large building where Renautus had it's headquarters. Renautus was a company run by a woman named Erica Kravid, and their sole purpose was to eliminate all Evos. They'd been kidnapping Evos like me and imprisoning them, harvesting their abilities to use for their cause.

They had originally planned on sending "normal" people into the future, after a solar flare was going to destroy the Earth, to repopulate and make a world that was Evo-free. But I, my brother Tommy, Sylar and Peter had stopped the flare from hitting us, and with Hiro and his friend Ando having set all the Evos free, their plans had been ruined.

Last time I had been there, I'd been kidnapped by them and tortured. It had been what caused my rampage of violence, but it'd also helped me discover another power, which was the ability to breath under water. At the time, they were just rebuilding after the damage I'd caused the first time we'd gone.

I only hoped they were still recovering, because my ability was telling me James was right inside.

I had to admit, I was a little scared as I approached the building. The first time I'd come here, I'd had others with me, helping me get through. The time after, they'd been weak. But now, I was alone, and no idea what was on the other side of those doors. Maybe I should have let Logan come after all.

The doors were right in front of me. I could see people milling about inside. It was too late to be scared, I wasn't turning back. So, taking a deep breath, I opened the doors as my form began to change.

 

Shape shifting was one of my many powers. I never used it because I found it uncomfortable and annoying. But I needed the extra cover, so I dealt with it.

I took the form of the only person I could think of being at the moment: my old friend, Emma. We'd been friends since toddlers, I'd grown up with her. But then, when I was around fourteen, she died. Hit by a car on the way home from school. At the time, I'd been living the dream, discovering my powers and meeting everyone I looked up to. I always felt guilty when I remembered it.

The reason I was thinking of her, was because, back when I lived with my foster family, she was the only one outside my house who really knew what my dad put me through. She'd be strong and comfort me when I needed it. She'd even stand up to my dad, though she'd always been short and never too intimidating.

I felt like I could use a bit of her bravery.

So as I walked through the doors, I flipped my now long, blonde hair over my shoulders in the way I'd seen her do constantly. No one paid me any attention, which I was relieved about.

Using my ability, I located where James was in the building, and quickly found an elevator to take. He was on the forth floor up, pacing around.

The elevator was empty, so I was able to breath a little easier. To my left and right were large mirrors, so, once I'd pushed the button and the elevator began to move, I studied what I was wearing.

It was not the kind of outfit I'd choose to wear. I had on a baby blue v-neck with a cropped jean-jacket and a white t-shirt under everything. My jeans were short and blue, and my shoes were silver sandals with a rather large heel. My hat and watch were gone, having been replaced with silver bangle bracelets and matching earrings.

I shuddered as I looked at myself, then focused on the door.

The door opened up a minute or so later, letting me out onto the fourth floor. It was as busy as the first one, but, like it, no one seemed to notice me. I made my way through the crowd with ease, following my ability towards James.

I was led to a large door. All the walls and doors on the floor were glass, but not this one. I couldn't see inside. I felt hesitant about opening the door, or even knocking.

 _Come on,_ I thought with a growl, clenching my fists. _Where has my confidence gone? I just need to go inside, get James, and get out of here. Even if I get shot at, I won't die. Why am I so worried?_

With that in mind, I barged into the room.

It was an office, and a weird one. All the furniture was black, and the floor was made up of checkered, rainbow-colored tiles. The far wall and half of the right and left walls were entirely glass, allowing me to see out into the city and over the rest of the property owned by Renautus.

It took me a moment to spot James, but when I did, I saw he was looking at me. He stood off to the right, mid-pace, looking surprised but delighted.

"Elena, so nice of you to finally arrive," he said, walking over to the desk. "We've been expecting you."

Since he already knew it was me, I dropped the appearance, glad to look like myself again. "How'd you know it was me?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"You walk like you own the place and look at everyone like they're lower than you," he said simply. "It was a dead give-away."

I didn't realize I had a certain kind of walk. Guess you learn something new every day.

"If you expected me, I assume you know why I'm here?" I asked, walking forward.

James began to take a step towards the desk, but I raised my hand and stopped him. He began to laugh. "Ah, yes. You've come to capture me, haven't you?" He said faking a little pout. "But I'm afraid I can't go."

"Too bad, dude. There's a cell on level five with your name on it," I said, walking over to him. I was about to grab his arm to teleport him away, when something struck me as odd. "What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked James. "Do you work for Renautus now?"

He grinned. "Yes, and I'm not alone."

"What do you mean?"

His grin broadened. "Someone you know works here, too. He has been for quite awhile. He told me you were coming, and said to make it easy for you to get up here so you'd feel over confident. Didn't you wonder why no security approached you?"

I let go of James and took a step back.

That's why I'd been paranoid.

It'd been too easy to get up here.

He'd been pacing in a room, waiting for me.

It'd been a trap, all along.

"Who's working for you!" I demanded, bringing my arm back up and causing James to slam against the glass wall.

Though he winced upon impact of the glass, he just smiled at me. "Look behind you," he whispered.

Acting on instinct, I did just that. I spun on my heel, keeping James against the wall, and was greeted with a familiar face.

"Sorry, Elena," Logan said without emotion before he stabbed me in the head with a long knife he'd had at his side.


	10. Chapter Ten

I woke up from the strangest dream. It'd been so weird and fun, but I could scarcely remember anything about it, aside from there being multiple versions of myself. But really, I didn't have to remember a dream with multiple versions of me to know it was amazing while it'd lasted. 

I'd awoken in such a good mood from that dream that I had forgotten where I even was. So when I opened my eyes and spotted Logan, my first instinct was to smile.

That is, until I noticed the large knife in his hand, still dripping my blood from it's blade. It was about then that everything came back to me.

The second everything came back, I tried to sit up. Instead, I had the air knocked out of me by the restraints across my chest, and I fell back against the table with a huff.

I was wondering why I hadn't ripped through them when I realized I had a tube running from my nose to a machine on the floor. They'd been drugging me; my powers would be useless until the effects of it had fully worn off.

"What the hell are you doing, Logan?" I tried to say, but it came out a bit slurred. I was still a little out of it.

He seemed to understand me well enough, though. "My job," he replied, sitting on a chair behind him and placing the knife on the table. Hands clasped in his lap, Logan lapsed into his explanation.

"I never worked for the underground railroad when everyone was aware of the presence of Evos," he began. "The second I discovered my ability, I'd gone to Renautus looking for a job. It was a place I thought I would be safe.

"Erica was kind enough to hire me. I became a personal guard for her, until she replaced me with a man named Harris. He was just a better shot, and with his cloning ability, she only needed him. So, I was placed in Bagging, capturing Evos who had powers we could harvest. It was boring work, but it paid. I eventually got my own house in my old neighborhood.

"You found me at about this time, when I was trying to catch an Evo for Erica," he sighed loudly. "You ruined that entire trip. I nearly killed my team acting like I was saving her, then the next time I went after her, she was gone."

"Why did you act like you were saving her?" I asked. I was still a bit woozy, but things were starting to become clear for me once again. At least I could speak correctly now.

"A teammate of mine was a mind reader. He saw you land in the street, read your mind to find out if you had any other powers. He told me over the earpiece that you were extremely powerful and a protector of Evos. So, since I was leader of the team, we agreed that I should pretend to fight everyone off, so as to keep us all from getting killed by you. Then, once you were gone, we'd go after the Evo we were trying to get."

"Then it turned out to be you, and I felt like I should keep up the act. If I could bag you and get you to Erica, I would have gotten a promotion for sure, and since you already knew me, I figured it'd be easy to make you feel safe around me.

"But you left before I could make a move to capture you," he sighed once more. "It was fine though, because after you broke into our old base and Erica found you, she was very interested to know we had history. I was given one sole assignment: bring you down.

"She wanted you to harvest your powers, and she said I could catch you if I got close to you. I had to play up the underground railroad act, get you to trust me, admire me. The fight at the solar flare was a failure for our company, but it was a perfect opportunity to get you on my side. Who knew, all it would take was a kiss?

"From there on, it was all an act, biding my time until the perfect moment. Then you decide to run off with James, we see you on TV, and the other Baggers get to you first. I felt like I'd failed.

"Then, you did something helpful for once, and broke out. Erica wanted you captured or dead more than ever. So, once your little rampage in New York was over, I requested that I move in with you to your dad, so I'd help keep you under control. It was really just to keep an eye on you and make sure you didn't go around ruining things for us, like you always were. 

"James was helping me by this point, having been assigned to bagging you as well since he was hired by Erica. We devised a plan.

"It was easy. He'd hang out near your home to tempt you, I'd encourage you to go after him if you didn't on your own, then after you left, I'd tell him to leave. Then you'd get caught and sent back home, effectively getting you more frustrated and eager to prove you could catch James.

"That last day you were home was the big finish. I was going to send you after him, and he'd lead you straight here, where we'd catch you. You almost ruined it though, finding him in that back room. He'd caught an Evo for Erica while waiting for you and lost track of time, the idiot.

"But, things worked out, and you took the bait. You came here, just as we predicted, and you got to the office without stopping to think, just as we had hoped. Then, all that was left was putting you down, then transporting you here."

"And what have you gained from all this, aside from my hatred?" I growled.

He looked surprised. "Gained? Erica has promised both I and James safety during the upcoming Eclipse. During the period of three hours, all Evos will be powerless, and she plans to wipe out as many as possible before the sun has come back out.

"She already has teams all across the country, even other parts of the world. We're just waiting now for the final piece to fall into place. And, now that we've got you, it's foolproof."

"Dad and Peter are going to come after you and tear you, James and Erica to pieces," I said, struggling against the restraints.

"Oh yes, they'll come looking for you eventually," Logan said, nodding his head. "But they'll either think of it too late, or we'll catch them as they arrive. I mean, we've already bagged them once, how hard will it be to do it a second time?

"We had been hoping one, or both, would come with you," Logan added with a shrug. "I thought telling your dad you'd left would do it, but then he came back and told all of us he was alright with it and we needed to cover for you."

Logan noticed I was struggling, and smiled. "Oh, the drugs have worn off, haven't they?" He said with a chuckle. "Better turn it back on. We wouldn't want you getting out, now would we?" He then reached down and turned on the machine.

"You know..." I trailed off, my voice becoming slurred once again as my limps began to feel like lead.

"What?" Logan asked in good humor, leaning his ear towards me. "You trying to say something?"

"At the station," I managed to slur. "The test, it said I... Lied... When I said I wouldn't kill..." The room was beginning to grow dark.

"Is that so?" Logan asked with a laugh.

"I... Was surprised..." I was finding it hard to move my mouth, but I pressed on. "But now... I know I was lying because... You're not going... to... live to... see that eclipse..."

I just managed to get the last word out before I went under.

Logan chuckled. "Yeah, good luck with that."


	11. Chapter Eleven

Okay, so I'd always planned on killing James, though I hadn't wanted to admit it at first. After all that he'd done, locking him up on level five just didn't seem like it would be enough, and with his power to move rock, he'd be able to break out easily anyway. Killing him was the only option, in my opinion.

But now, Logan had betrayed me. He'd played me for a fool and I'd fallen for it, wanting that happily-ever-after with him after this mess was sorted out. But now? He'd broken my heart, and he was going to join James in the ground the second I got out of this. Getting my revenge on those two was all I could think of.

I was in a boxy room, like the ones we had at Company headquarters that we kept the dangerous Evos in. I was strapped to a table, unable to move because of the drugs, but just barely conscious. Really, everything I saw was a blur, but my mind was working just fine. It'd do for now.

Though I'd been out when I'd been brought here, I assumed I was in the same area where we'd broken Sylar, Peter and the other Evos out awhile back. I must have just been in one of the separate rooms in the back instead of the main one.

If this was the case, then I knew right where everything was. That'd come in handy for when I was escaping.

For once, I willed the ticking to start up. I needed my crazy, unhinged side right now. When Sylar let that side of him out, he couldn't be drugged. You'd need at least fifty tranquilizer darts just to bring him down for a short while. If I could trigger it, then maybe, just maybe... I'd be able to get out of this.

I was thinking of ways to turn the machine keeping me drugged off when someone walked into the room. He was a blur, like everything, but I could tell it was James by the mess of blond hair he had.

He walked over to me, hands behind his back. I couldn't make out his face, but I imagined he was smiling. "Hello, old friend," he greeted. "Comfy?"

I tried to slur together some choice words for him, but I couldn't do it. He just chuckled, walking around me.

"You really are an intelligent person, Elena," James said, shaking his head sadly as he walked. "I'm honestly surprised you fell for our little scheme. Tell me, why did you come after me? Or, really, why did you come alone? I've already killed you once, it's not like you can beat me."

I glared at him defiantly, getting another chuckle out of him. "Ah, right, you're too drugged to speak properly, I should've remembered." He crouched down, looking at the machine on the floor. It hummed quietly, the only signal it was on. "Logan and I made sure the staff didn't turn this all the way up. We wanted to make sure you were conscious.

"Plus, we're interested in seeing how you react to us harvesting your powers."

Surprised, I uttered a strangled-sounding gasp. "Oh? Did it not occur to you that we'd be using you for something?" He laughed. "The amount of drugs we have to use just to keep you down costs a small fortune in themselves, so we're not going to keep buying them to use on you without getting something back.

"You should be happy," he continued, pausing by my feet. "You're helping a noble cause here. We're saving the normal people from the freaks like you. Why, your powers alone would be enough to power the entire operation, and since you can heal, you wouldn't give out like the others did. A never ending supply of nuclear energy, a map to locate every Evo, blood that can bring the dead back to life... You could do everything."

"You're an-n-n E-Evo... Too..." I managed to stutter, my voice coming out almost unintelligible. "You're... K-killing your... Own k-kind..."

James seemed to understand me though, for he chuckled to himself and walked over to my face. "That I am," he said once he was near me. "But I can't blow up a city with my mind like you, can I? I can block abilities that are used upon me and throw rocks around. You and you're family of misfits are the freaks, where as I am not. But, they'll all be dead soon enough." I managed to make out a grin on his face before he headed towards the door and left the room.

 

It was awhile before anyone else showed up, but when they did, it was no one other than Erica Kravid.

"Look who finally decided to... Show up," I try to say, my voice still coming out slurred.

"Hello, Gray," Erica greeted icily. "Nice to see you again."

"Sorry," I slurred. "I'm a bit tied up... At the moment." I weakly moved my arms against the restraints before letting them go limp again. "Please... Try again later..." Oddly enough, I was beginning to be able to use my voice again, but I felt like I was falling asleep, and I was losing my train of thought. The only thing I could get myself to do was make a bad joke.

I mean, I wasn't even tied up, they were metal bars that were restraining me.

Erica ignored me, walking over to my side and looking down at my face with an emotionless smile. "Tell me, how does it feel to know you've finally gotten yourself into something you can't get out of?"

I opened my mouth to speak, when suddenly the room was filled with a familiar ringtone. Erica dropped her smile, looking at her pocket as she took out my phone. "It's your dad again," she informed me. "He's been calling a lot. Logan answered earlier and spun a nice web, but I suspect he'd like to speak with you..."

She eyed me, holding the phone just above my right hand. I was too weak to make a grab for it. Erica just smiled, bringing the phone back in front of her. She swiped her finger across the screen, declining the call, before looking down at me. "If you help us willingly," she said quietly, "like your old friend and Logan are, I'd consider removing the restraints. I'd allow you to speak to your father."

"And then what?" I slurred together. "You'll just... Kill us all anyway. I'll never... Work for you."

Shrugging, she turned away, dragging her hand across the table I was strapped to. "Always trying to be the hero," she sighed, glancing back at me. "Why do you think you can do anything extraordinary, Elena? Why do you think you can help other Evos? You couldn't even save your childhood friend. What was her name? Emma?"

I tensed up. "Logan told me all about her," Erica went on, walking around the table. "She died young, and her death could have been easily prevented. You can travel in time, yet... You never went back to save her.

"How do you plan on saving your family, when you couldn't even take the time to save her?"

I wanted so badly to get at that woman and tear her head off, but the most I was able to was raise my head an inch or so to glare at her before letting it drop back to the table. I was pathetic.

"Pathetic," Erica said, seeming to read my mind. "All you Evos are, really. You have amazing abilities, yet, instead of fighting off those who attacked you, you decided to make the world forget about you all. It disgusts me.

"I'm doing the right thing here," she went on, giving me a fake smile. "With Evos gone, the world will be _normal_ again, and we won't have to worry about you freaks any more. Yes, not all Evos will be killed during the eclipse, there just isn't enough time. But at least half of the Evo population that was documented before you guys covered up everything should be."

"You going to... Kill the Evos working for... You, too?" I asked slowly. I felt so tired.

She grinned. "Harris is an essential part of the cause. He will not be killed unless need be. The others? They're expendable."

"James and Logan, too?"

Erica actually laughed. "Especially them. Their job was getting you- and they've succeeded. There's nothing left that I need them for.

"I plan on sending them out on one of the teams to hunt down Evos during the eclipse," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The two don't get along and always fight about who's in charge. With any luck, they'll just kill each other. If not, the Evos should when the sun comes back out."

"People don't even... Know... About Evos any... More..." I slurred, a growl edging my voice. "People would... Only see this as... Killing in cold... Blood... Terrorism, even."

She gave me a helpless little shrug, a thin smile plastered on her face. "People don't remember the Evos, but the Evos still out there are rediscovering their powers. There's a looming threat, and we're going to eliminate it."

Erica knelt down besides the machine, shooting me a final triumphant look. "I think it's time for you to go back under. It's best to be unconscious when being hooked up to the machinery."

A second later, she switched the machine on high, and I lost what little sense of reality I had left. I was soon unconscious once again.


	12. Chapter Twelve

I couldn't hold back a strangled cry of pain as the two scientists drilled into the back of my skull. Since I was drugged, I couldn't heal, and the pain was as intense as it would be for a normal person.

I actually wished I were dead, it was so excruciating. 

The two men took their time installing the little machine at the base of my skull. With it, I could be plugged right into the machine under the table that held me and have my powers harvested. I wasn't sure how it worked, but I didn't really feel like asking.

They ignored my cries, either being deaf, wearing earplugs or just not caring. Odds are they were just numb to the whole experience. I couldn't imagine how much other people with low pain tolerances had screamed as they had this done to them.

I'd woken up about ten minutes ago, being wheeled out into the main room. The place looked exactly as it had when I'd busted in before, aside from one aspect. There were at least twice as many Evos this time. I was just glad I didn't recognize any.

Erica said it'd be best to be under during this process, which she was probably right about. But the machine keeping me drugged had run out of, well, drugs. Someone had gone to get more, but for the time being, I was conscious.

I screamed for as long as they drilled, how long exactly that was, I didn't know. But it felt like an eternity. Eventually, they seemed satisfied with their work and stopped, leaving me panting and whimpering like an injured animal.

One of the two scientists, an average looking man with black hair, made sure all my restraints were working and clamped properly. The other, an older man with hair that was clearly dyed red, busied him self instead by attaching the wires under my table to the plug on the back of my head. It stung for a moment when he attached them, but it wasn't nearly as bad as what I'd just dealt with.

After that, the red-head moved something under the table, and suddenly it moved so I was more-or-less upright. It was like being strapped to a chair at the dentist's office. Or maybe like being crucified.

"Should we wait for John to get back?" The black haired man asked the older one.

He shook his head. "I don't see why. You think she's going anywhere?" The two shared a laugh, before he added. "John can install the new tank himself. Besides, we have three more Evos to plug into the system before break."

The other man nodded. "Yeah, guess you're right. I mean, this is something John couldn't even screw up." The two of them walked away, laughing once more.

By the time the other man, John, arrived with the tank, I was almost completely conscious. The edges of my vision were blurry, and I couldn't use my powers, but my mind was clear and my limbs didn't feel like lead. My present state seemed to unnerve John, him looking tense and nervous as he crouched down to replace the tank of gas that kept me under.

"Hey," I whispered, causing him to wince. "Hey, John. Psst, John." He was effectively ignoring me as he took the old tank off the machine.

I let a silence fall around us, waiting until he was putting the new tank on. Once he had it up, I suddenly screamed, "John!"

This time, he nearly dropped the tank he was so startled. Regaining his composure quickly, though looking embarrassed, he shoved the tank onto it's stand before standing up and walking the way the others had gone.

I grinned to myself as he walked away, but it dropped from my face as I heard the machine begin to hum, the signal that it was on. However, to my surprise, I didn't feel the effects of the drugs.

I turned my head slightly, a task that was made hard and awkward with the metal bar across my forehead, and looked down at the machine. The tank wasn't properly attached to the tube that ran up to my nose, so the machine was just sucking up air.

A grin spread across my face as I turned my head back. I closed my eyes, pretending to be out of it, while I awaited the return of my powers.

 

Three hours later, the effects of the drugs had all but worn off. I hadn't expected it to take so long, but they'd been using so much on me since capture, that it was no wonder.

Despite my abilities having returned, I remained still. The echo of footsteps was filling the room, and I didn't want to break out of my restraints just to be subdued.

It was a minute before the footsteps were near me, but once they were, they passed by seconds later. I assumed it was a security guard patrolling, making sure everyone was still knocked out. Guess he needed to do a more thorough job.

The footsteps were beginning to fade when I finally opened my eyes, a grin on my face once more. I lifted my head up, off the back of the table, breaking the restraint holding me back. I did the same with my arms, ripping the metal with ease. From there, I used my hands to tear through the restraints on my torso and legs.

Once I was free, I stepped off the table and ripped the tube off my nose. As I dropped it to the floor, I used my other hand to unplug the cable leading to the back of my head. It stung like heck, but I got over it quickly.

I was standing there besides the table when I thought I heard something. I whipped my head around, only to find nothing there.

It wasn't even a second later when I recognized the noise as the ticking.

"Great," I mumbled, looking around at all the unconscious Evos. It was like an ability buffet in here. "Why'd it have to start now?"

Apparently, I'd spoken too loudly, as from a nearby hall leading into the room, I heard a shout and the pounding of feet. Guards rounded the corner a second later, guns drawn.

I rolled my eyes, lifting up both my hands. Using one, I caused their walkie-talkies to fly off of them. I didn't want them calling backup. Using the other, I raised them up into the air, where they struggled against my grip.

"You will not tell anyone you saw this," I told the two evenly. "If anyone asks, I'm still strapped to that table. Understood?"

The two nodded obediently and I set them back down. As they began walking away, I winced, clutching my head. The ticking was growing louder. I quickly checked my pockets, only to come up empty-handed. Where was my music player?

Then it occurred to me. Erica still had it.

I quickly used my ability to locate her, then teleported back to the rainbow-tiled office. My power had told me that she was in the hall, walking towards the room.

I'd grab the player real quick, along with my phone, then teleport out of here before I killed anyone. Sure, I'd love to kill Erica here and now, but it might trigger that unhinged side of myself since the ticking has already begun. If that happened, I might just head back to the room full of Evos and go table by table killing them. That would _not_ get me back on good terms with the Company.

So, once I appeared in the room, I flew over to the big chair behind the desk and waited, hands clasped in front of me, for Erica to open the door.

As if on cue, the door opened, and Erica walked in. Harris was behind her, looking just as he had when I'd seen him in Odessa with James.

Neither of them seemed surprised to see me sitting there. "Who was it in charge of keeping the tank filled?" She asked Harris with a sigh.

"John Silver," Harris said. His voice was deep and emotionless.

Erica nodded. "Please send word to him that he's fired as soon as you can, Harris." Her attention was on me now. "Why are you here? Do you plan on killing us?"

I shot her a big smile. "No, no," I said with a slight shake of my head. "Just came to reclaim my personal items before leaving."

"Well, I'm afraid I don't have them with me," Erica said helplessly, holding out her hands.

"Liar," I said gruffly. I was raising my hand to prevent them from moving when Harris suddenly raised his gun and shot.

I was quick though. The bullet hit me right in the throat, but I caused the gun to fly from his hand before he could shoot again. While I popped my spine back into place, I froze the two to the spot using the same hand.

My wound quickly healed up, and I spit out the bullet onto the floor. My teeth red with my own blood, I smiled at them. "No need to be difficult," I said with a little pout before teleporting over to them.

Once besides Erica, I fished around in her pockets until I found my music player and phone. Pocketing them, I gave her a bloody smile. "Thank you for your cooperation," I said as she glared at me. Then I patted Harris's head and teleported away.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

I thought about it, but I didn't teleport back to the Company right away. No, instead, I went back in time a few years, arriving in Indiana.

I appeared in the middle of the street and quickly put my headphones on. I felt myself relaxing as the music began to play, and I walked over to one of the oak trees lining the road to rest for awhile.

The ground was cold when I sat down, it being late October. If memory served me right, it was almost Halloween. I loved Halloween.

Awhile back, I'd gotten the ability to control the elements from my sister, Malina. I hated her, but the power was useful. Using my ability to control water, I pulled some water out of the cold air and put it into my mouth to swish around and get the blood out of my teeth.

As usual, at the touch of water, I found it hard to breath. I'd originally thought that this was just a psychological disorder I'd developed upon almost drowning as a kid. But I now knew it was because my lungs were reverting to water-breathing instead of air-breathing, effectively making me unable to breath the air that surrounded me. 

I swished the water around for as long as I could bare before spitting it out onto the grass. My teeth were probably still pink-ish, but now I at least wouldn't look like a vampire who'd just ate.

My lungs were reverting back to air-breathing as I watched a school bus approaching from along the road. It stopped outside of a two-story brick house not far from me, it's doors swinging open with a screech of protest.

The bus remained there as kids from the neighborhood got on, all walking in single file. It was about two minutes after the last kid got on that the door to the brick house flew open and a girl ran out, her brown hair blowing behind her in the cold wind.

She jumped down the front steps and was on the bus just seconds before the door closed. I watched as she took a seat at the back of the bus, besides a girl with long blonde hair and a boy with a curly mess of black hair.

As the bus began to roll past me, I stood up, hands in my pockets and random dubstep blaring in my ears. I watched the bus until it turned a corner and was gone from sight.

What Erica had said back at Renautus had gotten to me. She'd been right, of course. I was so busy living the dream that I hadn't taken the time to save my beloved friend. Well, before I went any further with anything in my time, I was going to save her.

I knew Hiro and the other time travelers at the Company, like Peter and my dad, wouldn't approve of me coming back to save her. As Hiro often said, you could step on a butterfly and change the course of history.

 _Which_ is why I decided to come here first, before going back to the Company. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, right? Plus, I could time travel, so I wouldn't even be missed. I'd hang out in the past for a bit, I didn't know the exact date Emma was killed, then once I saved her, I'd return to the present. Easy and simple, and the others would never know about it.

Smiling to myself, I looked up at the sky and took to the air to follow the bus.

 

The school was just as I remembered. It was one of those places where people tried to make it look inviting, but there was an air about it that was just foreboding, like if you went inside you'd never come out.

Plus it legitimately looked like a prison.

After the bus from my old neighborhood parked and everyone got off, I followed everyone at the back of the crowd. I really stood out, being about six feet tall with my combat boots on and old bloodstains on my trench coat, but, surprisingly, no one noticed me. 

Up ahead, I saw younger-me walking besides Emma. Though they were at the front of the crowd, I could hear them easily.

"You remember that one scene where Future-Peter throws that soldier guy at a wall and keeps walking like nothing happened?" I was saying to Emma as she rolled her eyes. "I found a gif of it yesterday morning and watched it for like twenty minutes. It's awesome, I should send it to you."

"Yes, I'd just _love_ to see another picture of Peter," she said sarcastically, elbowing younger-me's side playfully. "Seriously though, you got to take a break from all this Heroes stuff, it can't be good for you."

 _"'Every hero must learn his purpose, then he'll be tested and called to greatness,'"_ younger-me replied, quoting Hiro Nakamura from the show.

Emma laughed. "I highly doubt your purpose is living like that TV show is real," she said.

I grinned to myself as I followed the crowd into the building.

Once inside, the crowd broke up into groups, heading this way and that. Emma and younger-me headed off down the hall, towards where I was fairly sure math class was. 

Uninterested in waiting for school to finish, I walked over to a wall of lockers and leaned up against the wall. Once the crowd dispersed, I closed my eyes and concentrated on going forward a few hours. 

When I reopened my eyes, the halls were still empty. I momentarily wondered why, but then I spotted the clock on the wall across from me. It was just past lunch, meaning Phys Ed was going on. Knowing this, I put my hands in my pocket and walked down the hall, whistling to myself until I reached the gym.

I knew Emma wouldn't be dying today; I distinctly remember her mother driving her home after school. But I just felt curious about what I looked like to others, back when I went to school. It was interesting seeing myself walking around without powers or anything.

I sorta... Missed it.

I entered the gym and sat down on the bleachers, still going unnoticed somehow. I spotted Emma and me on the court talking together. Other kids were in groups as well, aside from younger-Logan, who stood off to the side awkwardly.

"Alright, listen up!" The coach said, walking into the center of the gym. "It's time to play dodge ball. Smasher, you're blue team captain!" Smasher, the school bully, walked over to the coach. Everyone called him Smasher, most of the students didn't even know his real name. "And Emma, you're red team captain!" Emma walked over to him as well.

"You will each take turns picking members for your teams," Coach continued before stepping to the side.

"I want Bruce," Smasher said, picking his buddy right off the bat.

"Elena," Emma said with a grin. Younger-me walked over to her side sheepishly.

"Tyler."

"Logan."

"Jeffery."

"Dennis."

It went on and on until the kids had been divided into two teams of eight. Smasher's team was made up of the reasonably bigger kids, where as Emma's team were those who were quick on their feet.

"Everyone ready?" Coach asked, his voice echoing across the team. Most of the kids shouted "Yes!" in return, excluding a few such as younger-me. "Alright- play ball!"

There were racks of dodge balls besides the court, which everyone ran to. Emma's team was shoved aside by those on Smasher's, a few falling over. Coach didn't comment, only pacing in front of the bleachers as he watched everyone.

It was a minute before everyone was back on the court, but the second the last kid was there and armed with a ball, it was chaos.

The way we played was simple; you got hit, you're out. Catch the ball, the one who threw it is out. There were no rules about not aiming for the face. That couldn't really be avoided sometimes. So, Smasher and his buddies were picking off the smallest kids on the red team first, aiming for their faces all the while.

Smasher hurtled a ball straight at younger-me, and I noticed it before she did. Thinking quick, I moved my hand so she's turn slightly to the left, then caused her to raise her arms.

Younger-me caught the ball, much to her surprise. "You're out, Smasher!" Coach called. Smasher, surprised and angry to be the first one off his own team, walked off the court with an angry huff and sat down at the bottom of the bleachers.

There weren't many people left on the red team, just Emma, Logan, younger-me and a kid I didn't know. The red team had everyone but Smasher. There was no way my team would win, but I _remembered_ winning.

Then I realized, we won because of me.

Another ball was coming towards younger-me, so I moved her so she's catch it. As the girl who threw it left the court, I launched the ball out of younger-me's hand and at Bruce. It his him square in the jaw, and he actually fell over.

A ball flew past younger-me and hit Logan in the leg. He raised his arms to signal he was out, then walked away. Younger-me ran over and grabbed the ball, then turned around to throw it. The throw fell short though, so I gave it a little boost, making it hit two people.

"Does that count?" The kid who got hit second called to Coach.

"I'll allow it," he replied as the two muttered to themselves.

Pretty soon, it was just me, Emma and one kid on the blue team left. He threw a ball, it hitting Emma on the arm. It bounced towards younger-me, who grabbed it and threw it wildly, not even aiming.

I corrected the course of it, making it turn just the slightest bit mid-air, and causing it to hit the boy on the side.

"You're out, blue team!" Coach yelled, blowing his whistle. "Looks like red team wins this one!"

There were cries of delight from the red team as all the kids sitting on the bleachers ran towards younger-me. Meanwhile, the blue team's members were sulking, many of them casting glares in younger-me's direction.

I didn't remember anything else interesting happening that day, so I decided that was enough. Closing my eyes, I focused on jumping to the next day. A second later, I was gone.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

I appeared at the same spot in the gym the next day, but at a different time. I looked down at my watch, only to laugh at myself because it didn't adjust for past-time.

Making my way down the bleachers, I headed out into the school. Today, around this time, I was waking up in the Company's headquarters, down on level five. I was probably speaking to Mohinder for the first time, or perhaps fixing that radio.

No matter what it was younger-me was doing at the moment, Emma should be here at school. Most likely alone, or with...

I didn't finish the thought, since I was no more than a few steps out of the gym when I saw Emma and Logan talking by some lockers.

"I swear," Logan was saying, his eyes frantic. "She was kidnapped right in front of me! That guy from the TV show who cuts peoples' heads open was there, he just broke into her house and took her!"

Emma laughed. "Seriously, Logan? I know you've got a thing for Elena, but really, being delusional about that show will not get me to put in a good word about you. Besides, Elena isn't kidnapped. Remember what her mom told us? She's away that camp for a week, where odds are she is perfectly fine."

"You don't understand!" He whined. "I was there, I saw everything! Elena is in danger and we've got to help her."

Sighing, Emma put her hand on his shoulder, tilting her head to the side. "You need help, dude," she said slowly.

Logan let out a frustrated groan before stomping past her. I thought he was going to walk past me like everyone else, but he slowed to a stop when he saw me.

I felt like having some fun, so, looking out from under the brim of my baseball cap, I gave him the creepiest smile I could muster, my teeth still pink with my own blood. He let out a strangled gasp, but I held a finger to my mouth, still smiling.

I didn't even have to speak. He followed the command, shutting his mouth. I gestured for him to keep walking, and so he did, not even looking back at me.

Emma didn't notice Logan's reaction to me, instead opening up the locker besides her. It was filled from top to bottom with books, she'd always been a huge reader, and she gingerly selected one from the middle of the stack. Holding the top ones back, she began to slide it out, just a little too quickly.

The books were about to topple over onto her when I held them back, pushing them back into the locker. Once again, she was clueless, and just shut the locker and walked away with her book. A minute later, the final bell rang.

Crowds of kids rushed out of classes and down the halls, heading towards the front of the school. Emma walked slowly, reading the back of the book she held in her hands as she went. I followed ten feet behind, keeping a watchful eye on her.

Emma exited the school a few minutes after everyone else. Where as other kids got in their parents' cars or the bus, Emma walked along the sidewalk, looking intently at the book.

I thought this was how it was going to happen, that she was going to be reading when the car hit her. But no, as I thought this, she pulled her backpack around her and put the book inside before continuing down the sidewalk. So much for that.

I was wondering how it was going to happen when Emma suddenly stopped and turned around to face me. "Who are you? Why are you following me?" She demanded. She was standing at the edge of the sidewalk, right before the crosswalk to the other side.

"Um," I said, taken aback. "I'm your guardian angel?"

"No, seriously," she said, trying to meet my eyes but unable due to the hat. "I saw you at phys ed yesterday and earlier in the hall, and Logan seemed freaked about seeing you." Her breath caught in her throat. "And is that _blood_ on your shirt?"

I shook my head innocently. "No, no, this is... Jelly. I ate a jelly doughnut earlier. Look, I'll explain everything, but can you please step closer, away from the road?"

She gave me a harsh laugh, stepping back and onto the road. "Heck no, I'm not coming closer. Now answer me! Who are you!"

I heard the distinct rumble of tires on pavement. "Honestly?" I asked, getting nervous. I only had one shot at this, I couldn't cross my own direct timeline again. "I really am like a guardian angel. Trying to help you here, now please, just listen and _move out of the road!"_

Emma didn't listen, instead taking a few steps further back. A car rounded the bend, heading straight towards her. She noticed it when it was only a few feet away, and was too stunned to move.

I wasn't though. I took off the ground, flying straight at her. I shoved her out of the way, right before the car made impact. I wasn't so lucky, though, and was sent unintentionally flying across the pavement. My hat flew off and I heard the glass on my watch crack as I hit the ground, a good ten feet away.

"Oh my god," Emma said with a shocked gasp, running to my side. The driver of the car had slammed on his breaks as he'd hit me, and was now looking out the window. Upon seeing my mangled body though, he slammed on the gas and took off.

"Oh wow," I gasped, popping my jaw into place by moving it a bit. "That... Was painful."

"How... How are you still alive?" Emma asked, astonished. The astonishment was replaced by shock and fear a moment later though, as I sat up.

"Oh." I was looking down at my back. Slowly, I used my left arm to pop my right one back into it's socket and get my hand connected to my arm again, as it'd all but been torn off, aside from a little bit of muscle. Once that was done, I grabbed both sides of my head and quickly snapped it around so I was facing the right way.

Now looking at the pavement, I turned myself over to examine my legs. My right one was good, but my left was at an odd angle. I quickly bent it back into place, and the bones knit themselves back together. All the while, the various cuts and scrapes on me healed themselves before Emma's eyes.

I raised my more or less clean left hand to my face and whipped away some blood, before spitting another good amount of it out of my mouth. "Hiya, Emma," I said sheepishly.

She finally seemed to recognize my face. I don't have words to describe the emotions on her face as she saw me. "Elena?" She gasped out, her voice barely a whisper. "How... Where did you... How are you..."

I grinned. _""You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you,""_ I quoted. "Guess who kidnapped me yesterday."

Emma let out another gasp as I stood up. There was a rather large pool of blood where I'd been laying, and my clothes were in need of a good wash. "You actually got kidnapped by Sylar?" She asked.

I nodded. "The one and only. Look, it's sorta complicated. You weren't really supposed to see me today." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "I just meant to show up, keep you from dying, then get back to everyone in Odessa. But now... Gosh, this sorta complicates things even more."

"Keep me from dying? Elena, what are you talking about? And why do you look older?" Emma seemed so confused that I felt sorry for her.

I walked over to my baseball cap and picked it up, thinking of how to answer. "Well," I started, brushing off the hat before putting it on. "You were supposed to get hit by that car. I just changed history to save you... You know, stepped on a pretty big butterfly here. And I look older because, surprise surprise, I am. I'm from the future. I'm nearly seventeen now."

I thought she was processing this or something, judging by her silence. But after a moment, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted.

Sighing, I picked her up before teleporting away.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

"So... You're the daughter of Claire and Sylar, and you were sent back in time as a baby to be raised by your current family, which is a foster family. The show Heroes is based off real events and real people, powers exist, and you've got a lot of them..." Emma said, rubbing her face. "But you're not 'my' Elena. You're a further-in-the-future Elena, who came back in time to save me from dying."

"That's pretty much it," I confirmed, giving her a patient smile. "The current me is in Odessa discovering all this. She'll be back in a few days."

"I... I don't know what to say," Emma laughed nervously. "This... Is so much to process."

"Honestly? You're handling it better than I thought you would."

I'd brought Emma back to my house when she'd fainted. Now she was sitting on my bed, head in her hands, where as I sat on a beanbag before her.

"What are you going to do with me now?" She suddenly asked.

I was surprised about the question. "Do? What do you mean?"

She gave me a tired look. "I mean, you said you came back here and I was dead. History could change entirely if I live. It's a big butterfly you stepped on, remember? So what are you going to do with me to preserve time?"

"I..." I paused. "I never actually thought about it. I thought you'd just go home to your family and that'd be it."

"You've really got to think things through before you act, Elena," Emma sighed.

"I could make your family think you're dead for the time current-me is in town, then make them forget they'd thought that? That way I think you're dead and nothing big changes in my timeline, but you get to stay here?"

She shook her head. "What about that Erica lady? You said she said I was dead, too. Plus, Logan probably knows I'm dead, and everyone you're with now. It'd never work."

"Then how about I bring you to the future? Logan will not be staying with us anymore, so we've got room. And if you don't want to stay with us, you could always go home, and I'd make sure your family forgot that you'd ever 'died' in the past."

"I don't know..." She murmured. "What's the future like?"

"Basically the same," I promised her. "Only difference is like every kid has a phone now, which is sorta annoying. I don't understand why a four year old even needs a phone..."

She gave me a crooked grin. "And would you always be older than me?"

"Yes." I gave her a big grin. "You'll be like a little sister to me!"

"I'm not so sure about that," she said with a chuckle, then sighed, "but what other options are there?"

My smile dropped. "The only way we can go about this without changing the present, my present, would be to put you so far back in time that you don't live to this year. Or, bring you to any time in the future, where you could be placed in any time, anywhere, and do whatever you please."

"The future it is," Emma said with a little laugh. "And if it's alright by you, I'd like you hang at your place. My mom can be a bit suffocating, and if she already thinks I'm dead... No point in going back."

I gave her a short nod. "You want me to pick anything up for you from your house before we go? I need to go over anyway to convince your family you're, well, dead."

She shook her head. "I'm good, I think. I mean, I can always wear hand-me-downs," she ended with a quiet chuckle.

I shot her an encouraging smile as I stood up. "Hey, don't be so down. You're alive, right? Just try to keep your chin up. You'll adjust to all this pretty quickly." Then I teleported from the room.

I went straight to Emma's house from there. Inside, I found her mother, and used my ability to convince her Emma had been hit by a car and died. I told her to videotape me as I said it a second time, then told her to show the video to any family she saw before or during the funeral. They'd forget they saw it after she showed them, but would be convinced Emma was dead.

I also told her that they'd bury an empty coffin, but act as if it had Emma's body in it. I was too lazy to go get a plastic dummy or something to use as a prop.

Once I'd successfully brainwashed her mom, I went into Emma's room to go ahead and pack a few things. I found a suitcase in her closet and filled it with the outfits I always used to see her wear most. On top of this, I threw in a few items I found on her dresser, a picture of her, her mom and her dad before he died, and a picture of us together when we were little.

After I finished, I teleported back to my house and grabbed Emma before going back to my time.

 

"You're telling me, you let my granddaughter go after a psycho, and you didn't even offer to help her? She's out there alone?" Noah Bennet asked angrily, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was standing in Nathan's office, along with Sylar, Peter and, of course, Nathan.

"I did offer," Sylar said. "She just refused it."

"What about you, Pete?" Nathan asked, just as upset with them as Noah was. "I thought you were smarter than this. Who let's a teenager go after a mass murderer?"

"James is a teenager, too," Peter said defiantly. "Plus, she can handle herself. I mean, she broke into this place when she was fourteen, and she's broken into Renautus with us too. She'll be fine."

"If she's fine, why isn't she answering our calls?" Noah asked. "All of them have been denied or sent to voice mail."

Sylar was looking a bit nervous. "Logan answered mine earlier," he said. "He told me that she'd left her phone with him for safe keeping while she went to do something."

"So Logan is with her, then? I thought he was here?" Nathan commented.

Peter looked a bit nervous now. "I thought he was here, too," he said, looking over at Sylar. "I mean, he wasn't with Elena when I saw her." Sylar responded with a helpless shrug.

"You two need to locate her now and get her back here," Noah demanded. "Who knows where she could be, what trouble she could be getting into?"

It was right after Noah said this that I appeared between them all, still covered in my now dried blood, and Emma besides me. I dropped the suitcase with a huff before walking over to a chair by the bookcases and sitting down. So much teleporting and time travel really wore me out.

"Elena?" Sylar said in surprise, a smile lighting up his face. "You back for good?"

"You'd better be," Nathan commented gruffly. "I'm tired of you running off like that."

"Who's blood is all over you?" Noah asked, seeming to be the only one to have noticed it so far.

"And, ah," Peter said from besides Sylar. He was eyeing Emma, who looked like she was about to start squealing. "Who's this?"

I help up my hand to pause the flow of questions, taking a deep breath. "First off, yeah, back for now at least. Secondly, it's my blood. I was just hit by a car going way too fast for being in a neighborhood. Thirdly... Everyone, meet Emma."

"Emma?" Noah looked surprised. "You mean your friend Emma?" I nodded. "Elena, you know it's dangerous to mess with the past!"

"Yeah, I know, but I got it covered," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. "Everyone thinks she's dead, but she'll be living here in the future." Noah looked frustrated. "What? Did you think I was just going to leave her to die?"

He sighed. "Guess I should've seen this coming."

"So you were hit by a car? Are you alright?" Sylar asked worriedly, looking me over.

I'd seen myself in the mirror at my house and knew most of my face was covered in blood, my hair matted with it at well. He knew I could heal, but it was no wonder he was worried. I gave him a small smile and nodded my head. "I'm fine, really. I've been hit by worse."

"So," Emma said, having regained her usual composure, though she still looked excited. "You're actually Peter? And you guys are actually Sylar, Noah and Nathan?"

The four of them sighed. "Let me guess," Nathan said, "you watched that dumb show, too?"

"The show isn't dumb," Emma said defiantly. "It's inspirational, in a weird sort of way. But yes, I watched it, though not nearly as much as Elena."

Nathan rubbed his face tiredly. "So we're going to have to explain everything to you like we did with her?"

Emma shook her head. "Nah, Elena already told me everything. I'm just, like, super excited to actually be meeting you guys." She'd begun to bounce on her feet, but took a deep breath to calm herself. "Alright, I'll go wait in the hall so you can talk to them privately, Elena," she said evenly, walking towards the door.

"I know what you're thinking," I called to her as she opened it. She glanced back at me. "Micah Sanders works in Tech. Follow the hall to the right, take the first left and it's the door at the end."

She grinned. "Thanks," she called over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

"Why'd you need to talk to us?" Peter asked, folding his arms across his chest. "Is it about James?"

"More or less," I said evenly, clasping my hands together as I began. "I found out where he works. He's one of Erica Kravid's goons now, bagging and tagging Evos so they can harvest their powers. They're still holding up in their base in Colorado."

"Good work," Nathan said, walking over to his desk and picking up a phone. "I'll send a team to get him. You were smart, not to go in alone."

"Hold it," I said, making the phone in his hand hang up. He glared at me. "I'm not done yet."

"What else did you find?" Noah asked.

"Well," I paused as a wave of emotions swept over me. I ignored them though, looking at the four with my head tilted ever so slightly. "Logan works for Erica, too. He has been this entire time."

"What?" They asked in union.

Sylar's fists were shaking. "You're telling me, that boy has been staying in our house, and he's been working for them the entire time? When I see him, I'm gonna..." He trailed off, but we all got the picture.

"Actually," I said with a big smile. "I was the one who had their heart torn into a thousand pieces. If anyone is going to tear him apart, I'd like to be the one to do it.

"Moving on," I continued before anyone could comment on that. "That's not all. Turns out, Erica is plotting against Evos again. There's an eclipse coming up and everyone will lose their powers for awhile during it. She plans on killing the Evos while they're powerless, using teams she's deployed across the world.

"She knows she can't kill all the Evos in just a few hours," I said. "But her goal is wiping out at least half of them that were registered when everyone knew about us. Given the amount of goons she has, I think she'll be able to pull it off."

The color had drained out of all their faces. "How do you know about all this?" Peter eventually asked. "And how do they even remember us? Erica and all of them should have forgotten."

I shrugged. "They could have just avoided the broadcast? I don't know, but they never forgot. As for how I know all of this..." I paused, rubbing the back of my neck warily. "I sorta busted in and got captured by them. They were so proud to have caught me, and so sure I was trapped, that they rubbed their plans in my face.

"They actually hooked me up to a machine to take my powers," I added, then something occurred to me. "Which reminds me..." I reached around the back of my head and grabbed hold of the plug the men had attached to me. I'd ripped the wires to the machine off, but not it.

I quickly yanked it out of my head, wincing at the pain for a moment but quickly recovering. I didn't want to let on how much it hurt. Once it was out, I held it out in front of me a second before tossing it across the room and into the trashcan. My head was just beginning to heal up when it clanked against the bottom.

"We've got to do something," Noah said, looking around at everyone. "We can't just allow Erica to kill hundreds, maybe even thousands, of defenseless Evos."

Nathan was sitting behind his desk, head in his hands. "I don't know what we can do," he muttered. "We've got so few agents, and most of the Evo ones don't even know how to fire a gun. How can we take on Erica's men with an eclipse coming up?"

"We have to take Erica out before the eclipses begins," I say evenly, causing everyone to look over at me. "The men are like drones. Take out the source of authority, they won't know what to do. It'll take a good sized team, since her bodyguard, Harris, can heal himself as well as create clones. He's also a pretty good shot, so I hear.

"The other people with authority need to be taken out as well. Those would be the original Harris, James and Logan. With them gone, no one is left to take over commandment, and the army Erica has built up will scatter."

"I don't like having to kill these people, especially James and Logan, since they're just kids. But if it's to save hundreds of lives..." Peter trailed off.

"We need to do it," Sylar growled. "I want to be on this team. Just tell me when we need to head out and I'll be ready."

Noah sighed. "I guess we're doing this..." He looked around at everyone. "Mohinder will probably know the date of the eclipse. I'll go speak to him about it when we're done here."

"And I'll get volunteers for this 'team' of ours," Nathan said, rubbing his temples. "The majority of them will most likely need some sort of training with guns. We'll have to start that soon."

"I'd volunteer for this team now," I said, standing up, "but I'm not really a team player. I'll be there though, doing a bit of... 'Catching up' with Logan and James."

Peter shared a look with Sylar. "Kid," he said slowly. "You sure you want to go back? You've already been through a lot, and we're going to have to kill these people. I'm not sure if you're stable enough-."

I cut him off, raising my hand. "I know this already, Pete. It'll be dangerous and people will die, probably on both sides. But James shot me in the face, and Logan stabbed me in the head. I think I need to return the favor. And besides, if I don't kill them, someone else will try, and they might not make it. I can at least heal."

"She's got a point," Sylar admitted.

"You're on board with this?" Noah asked, shocked. "You're daughter is talking about killing two boys!"

"If she doesn't, someone else will," he replied, staring Noah down. "And I plan on killing that Erica chick myself anyway, so it'll be a family effort."

"If you guys are getting those three, then only Harris is left," Nathan said. "Do we really need a team for that?"

Peter sighed. "Family effort, right? I'll go. I can take on Harris."

"Maybe a few of him, but if he can clone himself, you'll need backup," Noah said. "I'll help you."

Nathan sighed. "Of course all you guys are going. You all just love being the heroes..." He laughed shakily. "I'll get volunteers anyway, have them patrol and protect Evos around here, just in case you guys don't make it on time."

Everyone nodded at this, so I clapped my hands together once. "Well," I said, looking around at everyone. "If we're done here, I sort of need to go wash all this blood off of me, and I need to help Emma get settled."

"I think we are done," Noah said, looking around for confirmation. Nathan gave him a nod. "Good, then I'll go speak to Dr. Suresh." He then walked out of the room.

"And I'm off to find Emma," I told them, following Noah out of the room after grabbing Emma's bag.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

I found Emma in Tech, talking to Micah just as I thought she'd be. She'd always loved his ability, the power to communicate with machines, plus she thought he was adorable on the show. In reality though, he wasn't that adorable ten year-old, but was closer to my age. Still sorta cute though.

Once I'd pried her away from him, I teleported us to my house. We arrived in the backyard, and I let us in through the sliding door.

"Nice place," she said, admiring the space we walked into. It really wasn't much, just a simple kitchen and dining room.

"C'mon, I'll show you your room," I told her, walking towards the stairs with her bag in my hand.

Upstairs, I brought her into the guest room that Logan had originally been staying in. It was spotless and new sheets were on the bed, as if Sylar just knew someone would be staying with us.

"Make yourself at home," I told her with a grin. "I gotta go get cleaned up."

Somehow, once I was in my bathroom I managed to pull my clothes off of me. The dried blood had stuck them to my skin like glue and turned them stiff. But once they were off and in a lumpy pile on the floor, I turned to the shower.

That whole can't-breath-air-while-wet thing happened no matter where I was, which made it extremely difficult to take showers. So, I put some shampoo in my hair before I got in to cut back on the time I'd have to spend in the water.

After I'd done that, I quickly jumped in. I stood directly under the stream of hot water until the water that ran off of me was no longer red. Then, I stepped out of the path of the water and bent back a bit, so now my hair was just in it. I quickly worked the rest of the shampoo out before shutting off the shower hurriedly.

I dried myself off as quick as I could before walking back out into my room to find some clothes, a towel wrapped around me and another wrapped around my head. My fan was on the highest setting, so it was really chilly, but I ignored it, too lazy to turn it down.

In my closet, I found my black hoodie, a pair of blue jeans and a gray-black t-shirt. I grabbed them and some underclothes then went back into the bathroom to get dressed.

I had the outfit on in under two minutes, then towel dried my hair as best as I could. My hairdryer had broken a few days ago, so the towel was all I really had to work with. After that, I grabbed my watch and put it back on, noticing the cracked glass. I'd have to replace it later.

A minute later, I was back out in my room, my bloody clothes in my arms, along with my combat boots and hat. The shower and everything had taken, all together, about ten minutes. I was pretty quick.

I headed downstairs, actually walking because I was tired of teleporting, and dropped my clothes in the washer before starting it up. I didn't want the blood to stain. I left my boots by the back door before putting on my hat and heading back up stairs to check on Emma.

The door was open, so I peeked in. I quickly retreated a second later though when I saw she was looking at the picture of her family. I didn't want to interrupt.

Now, I headed back into my bedroom. My legs were hurting from so much running around the house, so I thought I'd take a break to listen to some music.

But when I reached into my pocket to get my music player, I didn't find anything. I checked the other one and turned up empty as well. Then it dawned on me: I'd left them in my trench coat, which was now in the washer.

"Great..." I muttered with a sigh, stopping where I was. I closed my eyes and teleported back a few minutes ago.

I arrived in the bathroom just as a-few-minutes-ago-me was walking out to get clothes. I quickly fished around my coat's pockets for my music player and phone before teleporting back to the present.

I was extremely tired after all the teleporting before, but now I was even more so. So when I appeared in my room again, I floated over to my bed and flopped onto it like a rag doll. Movements slow, I put my earbuds on and turned on the music.

Only a few seconds later, I heard the front door slam as someone came into the house.

Uttering a long groan, I rolled off my bed and onto the floor then began crawling towards my bedroom door, slowly making my way to my feet as I went. Once I was standing, I took my earbuds off and turned off the music.

At the stairs, I slid down the railing, too lazy to even bother with floating or walking. I hopped off at the bottom and looked around to see who'd come inside. Upon seeing no one, I walked into the kitchen.

In there, I found Tommy making himself a sandwich. "Hey," he greeted as he walked to the fridge to get some cheese. "Didn't think you'd be back so soon. You catch James already?" Guess Sylar had told him I'd gone too, probably because he could teleport.

"Nah, I'm going back out later to catch him. He's working for Renautus now, so Dad, Peter and Noah are coming along to help me out with Erica and her self-cloning bodyguard," I said with a yawn as I sat at the counter.

"Sounds fun," he commented as he threw the sandwich together. "I might tag along, if you guys will let me."

"Dad did say it would be a family effort," I told him with a grin. He matched my grin before he began to put everything away.

Tommy was just about done putting everything away when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. There was a pause as they hit the floor, but then they started coming towards the kitchen.

"Hey Logan. You want a sandwich?" Tommy called, looking past the fridge door in the direction of the steps. A moment later, Emma rounded the corner. Tommy looked confused. "You're not Logan..?"

"Logan is dead to us," I told him as I slid off the stool. "He was lying to everyone and has been working for Erica for awhile, so he doesn't live here anymore. Anyway," I said, giving Emma a one-armed hug once I was by her, while looking at Tommy with a grin. "This is my buddy Emma. She just came from the past, and she'll be staying with us."

"Oh wow, Logan works for Renautus?" Tommy said, surprised. Then he just shrugged and closed the fridge. "I could've guessed it, honestly. The guy was always a little weird. And nice to meet you, Emma. Welcome to the future." That's what I liked about Tommy, he took things in stride.

Emma elbowed my side, looking at me. "Who's he?" She whispered, grinning. "He's really cute."

"He's my brother," I said, holding back a laugh. "And he's got a girlfriend."

"Darn." Emma put on a little fake pout before taking a seat at the counter. "I'll take that sandwich if you're still offering," she told Tommy with a grin as she sat down.

Tommy shrugged then began taking out everything he'd put back in the fridge. "So, what time did you just come from?" He asked as he closed the door with his foot, arms full of food.

"Just a couple years ago, I think?" Emma said, looking over at me. "How long as it been for you?"

"Nearing two and a half years," I replied.

"It took you almost three years to go back in time to save me?" She asked, folding her arms.

I raised my hands defensively, trying to look innocent. "Hey, I've been busy! I was on a hunt for my family, then I saved the world from a solar flare." Tommy cleared his throat. "Okay, _we_ saved the world from a solar flare, then I went a bit nuts and destroyed part of New York, and since then things have been chaotic."

"Well... That's no excuse," she said, though looked a bit impressed.

"So," Tommy said as he passed Emma a plate with a sandwich on it. "What'd you save her from, anyways?"

"Getting hit by a car," I replied as Emma began to eat and Tommy started to put everything away again. "Though I'm starting to think that never happened."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked through her mouthful. "I thought history said I died?"

I shrugged. "That car wouldn't have hit you if you hadn't stopped in the road to confront me. I think I just always went back to get you or something, and that you never really died."

Emma let out a long sigh, having swallowed her bite. "Time travel is so confusing..."

I grinned. "You should have been with me at the beginning of all this. I went to like ten different time periods in a row. Now that was confusing."

"I still can't believe you can time travel," she said with a shaky laugh. "I wish I could have come along on some of your adventures, too. I feel sorta left out."

"Hey, don't worry," Tommy said as he set his sandwich down after taking a bite. "She never takes me along, either. The only reason I got to help with the solar flare was cuz we were all gonna die. Then when she went insane and I tried to stop her before she destroyed New York, she sent me to Canada! Just seriously, don't feel bad. She treats all of us like this."

Emma was grinning, but looked confused. "Why did you destroy New York?" She asked, looking at me.

"It was only part of it..." I grumbled, then sighed. "Okay, you know Sylar's first power from the show?" She nodded. "I inherited it. Basically, the insanity from it was combined with me being angry, then my memory got erased and junk and I wanted some payback... Honestly, in the end, I think I was just bored and wanted to break stuff."

"Reasonable enough," Emma said evenly after a moment.

The room was filled with a thick and awkward silence as the two of them ate. I folded my arms on the counter then rested my head on them, just wanting to relax for a second before they decide to start talking again.

As if on cue, like everything seemed to be lately, I heard the thud of feet as someone appeared behind us. I swiveled around on the bar stool as Tommy looked up. Emma looked confused for a moment before turning to see what we were looking at.

Sylar was standing there looking flustered. "Hiya," I greeted with a yawn. "Did Noah speak to Mohinder yet?"

"Yeah, and we have to go," he said, looking around at all of us. "The eclipse is going to start tomorrow morning and it's already almost eleven."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "Hmm. I didn't think it was so late. Time travel... Really messes up my internal clock." I slid off the stool, looking back at Emma. "This is gonna be super dangerous. You alright staying here? I'd hate for you to be like, killed or something your first day in the future."

Emma gave me a small smile. "I'm fine with staying here. Honestly? I don't have any interest in getting killed either. Good luck though."

"I think I'm gonna sit this one out, too," Tommy said, bringing his and Emma's now empty plates to the sink. "If James and Logan are in on this... Well, they know where we live. Someone's gotta keep them from destroying the place while you're gone."

"Good thinking," Sylar said. "Why don't you invite Emily over, too? They know about her, so it'd probably be best for you three to be all at the same place. Plus, she was pretty good with that gun Noah gave her."

"Will do," Tommy said, giving Sylar a mock salute like I sometimes did.

Grinning, I turned back to Sylar. "Do we need to get Peter and Noah before we go?"

He shook his head. "They're already waiting for us. Noah actually wanted to go in without you, but..." He gave me a small grin. "Me and Pete thought you'd be mad about that."

I matched his grin. "You were right about that." I stepped over to his side before giving Tommy and Emma a little wave. Then Sylar touched my shoulder and we teleported from the room.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Sylar and me appeared besides Peter and Noah by a chain-link fence that surrounded the back of the Renautus building. Before us was a small unloading dock with trucks that looked as if they hadn't moved in years.

"I hear you wanted to go in without me?" I asked, turning on my heel to face Noah, my arms crossed.

He ignored me, studying the building. "Now that you two are here, we can decide about how we want to go about this," he said evenly. "I think we'll have to enter through the back, perhaps find an office with information on where everyone works, then-"

I cut him off. "Erica's office is on the sixth floor, down the main hall and behind the only door that isn't made out of glass." Everyone turned to look at me. "James and Logan work in Bagging, which I believe is under the building. I can take care of finding them. As for Harris, I think the original is always with Erica? But the clones are everywhere. They're easy to take out, and sorta mindless from what I could tell."

Peter nodded. "You sure you're going to be able to get Peter and James?" He asked slowly.

I rolled my eyes. "I think I'm perfectly capable of taking them down."

"It's not a matter of capability," Noah said quietly. "You're clearly capable enough. It's just, you're going to have to kill them, and you were close to both boys, not to mention Logan is your boyfriend. I'm just worried you'll hesitate and they'll escape, or you won't be able to bring yourself to do it."

"He _was_ my boyfriend," I corrected, avoiding his eyes. "And I feel nothing for them anymore. They're not worth the effort that caring for people takes. It'll be like killing a fly."

"Kid," Sylar said, giving me a sideways look as he faced the building. "You can't even kill a fly."

"That's besides the point," I muttered. "What I'm trying to say is, I can do this. I helped get everyone into this mess, and I'm going to help finish it."

I looked around at everyone, who seemed to be accepting what I said. After a minute, Noah nodded. "Well then, let's go."

Teleportation was hard enough with one or two people, but four was even more of a strain. So, Sylar melted part of the fence and we went in like that, running across the dark loading dock and towards the door. Upon reaching it, I broke the lock off and we went inside.

The hallway was unlit, aside from a flickering light half way through it; it was like a scene from a horror movie. We made our way down quickly, the only exit being the door at the end, and us not wanting to get trapped in the tiny room.

I was first one through the door, and on the other side I found another hallway. This one was carpeted with plain white walls and large doors on each side made of gray stained wood. Past a good six rooms, the hallway intercepted another one.

Like in that first hall, the lighting here was dim. It being past eleven at night, I assumed the lights were turned down low in these halls to save money. I doubt anyone working at night would need to come back here, anyway.

But the general darkness made it hard to tell what was at the ends of the new hallway we entered. It was just door upon door upon door.

"I think this is where we split up," I said quietly, then gestured down the right side. "I'll take this way, you guys take the left?"

"Sounds good," Noah replied, drawing his gun and making his way down the hall, Peter right behind him.

Sylar hung back a moment, then gave me a quick hug. "Try to be safe?" He muttered to me.

"Can't make any promises," I replied, grinning, as he pulled away. He shot me a crooked smile before following the others.

And then I was on my own.

If it felt like I was in a horror movie before, that feeling was just heightened now that I was alone. I made my way down the hall, peeking into rooms as I went. I found them all to either be pitch black or empty but for desks or meeting tables.

I eventually reached the end of the hall, which opened up into a large meeting room. A table with seats for thirty were the only pieces of furniture in there, aside from two large TVs on either wall. There was, however, a door at the back of the room, which I hurried over to.

The door creaked loudly as I pulled it open, causing me to wince. But I was delighted to find on the other side was a flight of stairs, leading further below the building. Grinning to myself, I slipped through the doorway and begun to make my way down the steps. The sound of the door shutting echoed loudly down the stairwell, hurting my ears.

Each time I reached a new level, I'd peek through the door to see if I recognized the room before me. I must have walked down twenty flights before I spotted something that looked familiar. On the other side of the door were walls of white, plastic containers, each about four feet tall with metal poles bent around the outsides.

I saw these my first time here. The containers were used to store seeds, which would be used for crops after the solar flare hit. They were supposed to be transported into the future, along with Erica and about a hundred others, but we'd stopped the solar flare from hitting us. Guess they were just left here.

I shut the door as quietly as I could before running out into the maze of bins. It wasn't long before I reached the end, and emerged into what had held hundreds of Evos not long ago.

But now, the room was only half full. As I stood there, I saw men wheeling the chairs away with the Evos still hooked up to the machines. I wasn't sure where they were being brought, but I wasn't interested. If the hunger kicked in, I didn't want them anywhere near me.

Once the men closest to me where wheeling their Evos away, I made my way into the room and headed the opposite way from where they were going.

Ahead of me, everything was concrete, the floor, the walls, the ceiling. The lights here were turned up all the way, so, though they flickered, I could easily see everything in front of me. That was an issue though, because it meant they could see me as well.

For the time being at least, the halls were empty, which was good and bad at the same time. As I made my way through, I couldn't help but wonder where everyone was. Sure, it was late, but what with the Eclipse in only a few hours, you'd think it'd be all hustle and bustle.

I was given an answer a minute later as I walked out into another room. I had to dive towards some crates to my right to avoid being seen.

In the room were hundreds of people, all lined up and facing the wall across from me. On a raised platform at that side of the room, was Erica. James, Logan and Harris stood behind her, the first two looking smug where as Harris was expressionless.

Erica had her own private army _here,_ and she had even more across the country, and still more across the world.

How were we going to keep her from killing the Evos?

"Soldiers before me," Erica was saying into a microphone set up on a podium before her. She was smiling, but it looked more like a grimace. "We are the few that remember the time when Evos were known to the world. We are the few that remember the needless killings their very presence caused, the terrorist attacks, the uncontrollable violence that people with abilities can unleash.

"We are the few that have the power to prevent it from happening again!" This statement was met with an uproar of hoots and cheers from the crowd. Erica let it go on for a moment, before holding up her hand. A silence fell only seconds later.

"In mere hours," Erica said, malice dripping from her voice. "The sun will have risen and the eclipse will begin. We will have only three hours where the Evos become powerless, but three hours will be enough to wipe out at least half the population of Evos from our country alone. Overall, if all of you put forward your all, the total of Evos we can eliminate will be near 70 percent, maybe even more.

"With only 30 percent of the Evo population remaining, we will easily be able to keep them in check, and make sure they are unable to cause harm to us _normal_ people ever again."

Erica shot the crowd her best smile, which resembled a snarl. "You all have been divided into teams with a set leader, who will give you details on your destination and patrolling area. Teams going long distances should prepare for teleportation within the hour. The rest of you, please return to your patrols of the building, for you will be teleported during the last hour before the eclipse.

"You will all get your chance to serve your species and be heroes during the eclipse, but we cannot allow any Evos from the outside into our facility. If any of you spot an outsider, kill them on sight."

She waved her hands and the crowd quickly departed. I huddled up against the crates as about fifty people marched by me, though none of them noticed my presents.

Huddled up in a shadow, I strained my ears to hear if Erica was speaking. She was, this time I assumed to Logan and James.

"I am going back up to my office," she was saying, her previous courageous and heroic attitude having been replaced with her usual snotty one. "You two patrol with the others. Stay on this level though, because your team leaves first."

"Will do," I heard James reply as two sets of feet walked down the platform's stairs. I peeked over the crates for just a second to see it was Erica and Harris, walking to a door on that side of the room. They were gone a moment later.

I remained where I was as I waited for the rest of the room to clear. I kept track of where James and Logan went with my ability, just to make sure I didn't lose them.

About five minutes later, I decided it was alright to leave my cover, and took off in the direction they'd gone.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

The ticking. It started up once I drew nearer to James and Logan. The noise pounded in my ears, warning me that the hunger wasn't far behind. But I ignored it and pressed on. Now was not the time to break down, and I needed that extra bit of crazy if I was going to take down the two of them.

My power led me down the large room and into a hallway that branched off of it. The concrete from before was placed with white everything. White tile floor, doors, walls, ceilings, it combined with the bright lighting basically blinded me. I really wished I had a cool pair of glasses or something I could put on.

I let my eyes adjust to the glare before continuing on, not wanting James and Logan to get the advantage by running into them while blinded.

The hallway ahead of me was deserted, so I made my way down it quickly. I skidded to a halt outside a door, sensing that they were on the other side of it. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped inside.

The place I stepped into was yet another meeting room, though there wasn't a table in this one. Plastic chairs were stacked up against either wall, and the far one was lined with cheap looking counters and cabinets. Logan and James stood at the back, a cabinet open before them.

"C'mon, man. We're supposed to be patrolling," Logan said gruffly as James rummaged through the cabinet. "Erica is letting us lead that patrol in Denver, do you really want her to get mad and change her mind?"

James snorted. "I wouldn't care, honestly. I'd prefer to be on a separate patrol from you. Leading one together is going to be a pain. Besides, I'll only be a minute..."

"What are you even looking for?" Logan rubbed his face warily.

"Unlike me, you were safe during everything," James muttered, pulling a white bracelet out of the cabinet. "I, on the other hand, had to deal with the people like you hunting us. The more successful Evo hunters always had one of these."

"And what are they?"

Jame shot Logan a grin. "Wow, does Erica not even trust you enough to give you equipment? These are Evo tracking bracelets, powered by that Molly Walker girl's power. The juice will be low, since she hasn't been here in awhile, but it'll be helpful. We'd better only take one, to save power and since multiple isn't needed."

Logan folded his arms. "Well, I've been here longer. I think I should be the one to have it. And for the record, I never needed equipment to get the job done, that's why I've never seen one of those."

Jame rolled up his shirt sleeve, clasping the bracelet onto his arm. "You may have been here longer, but I'm the one who thought of this. I'll be in charge of the bracelet."

"You don't have the authority to decide that."

"I have more than you do, you-."

I slowly began to clap my hands, walking further into the room. "Wow," I said in mock-surprise. The two actually jumped with shock as they turned around to look at me. "Aren't you guys supposed to be working together?"

Without replying, James whipped a gun out of it's holster at his belt and aimed it at me. Rolling my eyes, I sent it flying out of his hand before he could pull the trigger. "It's not nice to point guns at people, James."

The two stood close together, their eyes defiant and refusing to play my game and talk. So, instead, I did the talking as I slowly walked back and forth in front of them. "You guys know why I'm here, don't you?" I asked in a hushed voice. "You both killed me. I think it's clear that it's time to return the favor?

"I must admit, you guys were pretty good at manipulating me," I admitted with a shrug. "James, you somehow got me to destroy part of New York! How you managed that, I still don't understand. And Logan..." I trailed off as I turned to him. "I actually thought I loved you, and that you loved me. Now though... I just can't wait to cut you apart and play around in your blood."

James and Logan looked pale and scared, but made no attempt to escape. Instead, James just snickered. "You won't kill us. You're trying to be a 'good guy', and 'good guys' don't kill."

"Tell that to Peter, Sylar and Noah," I growled. "They're killing Harris and Erica as we speak, and have no problem doing it. Now, they're good, some might even call them heroes, and they kill occasionally.

"My reasoning is..." I shot the two of them a grin. "If they do it, then it must not be too bad, huh?"

As I said this, I raised up both my hands, causing the two to rise into the air. I threw James across the room then slammed Logan against a wall of chairs, walking towards him slowly, hatred in my eyes. He struggled to no avail to get free of my grip.

"Let this be a lesson to never mess with a girl's heart," I whispered to him then slowly, with barely contained excitement, raised my hand and pointed at his head. The ticking filled my ears, drowning out his screams as a cut began to run across his forehead.

But Logan fell to the ground before I could finish when a bullet ripped through my right shoulder. Another soon pierced my chest, and I turned around wildly to find James with the gun in his hand again.

Leaving Logan on the ground, I raised my hand and caused the gun to fly from his grip. It flew into my outstretched palm, where I crushed it into bits of useless metal. As I let the pieces fall to the floor, I used my other hand to slam James against the wall.

"You're going to regret that," I growled, spitting out a bit of blood as my shoulder and chest began to heal. Slowly, taking my time to savor the moment, I began to cut James' head as I had done with Logan. He screamed as his blood splattered across the wall and ran down his face and dripped off his chin. Then, he went still.

I threw his still body onto the floor before turning back to Logan, who had his hands pressed against his head and was whimpering like an injured puppy. "P-p-please," he gasped out as I walked over and lifted him by the collar of his shirt. "D-don't d-d-do th-his."

I gave him a small, pitying smile. "You brought this on yourself, dude," I told him, then snapped his head with a wave of my hand.

I dropped Logan's limp body then stepped back to admire my handiwork. Blood was pooling around James, as was it around Logan, and more of it was splattered on the chairs and myself.

Wiping some of the blood off of my chin, I walked over to the wall of chairs on my left. With a wave of my hand, I moved them away, exposing white wall. There were a few spots of red where blood had splattered through the gaps between the chairs.

Whistling all the white, I moved two chairs back up against the wall then dragged James' and Logan's bodies onto them. Once they were sitting there, James' head cut in two and Logan's neck at an odd angle, I walked over to James pool of blood and smeared my right hand in it.

Once it was well covered, I walked back over to the wall and proceeded to write words with the blood above the two. Above James, I put Traitor, and above Logan, I put Heart Breaker. After that, I smeared the blood still on my hand on their clothes, and walked out of the room.

I was whistling again with my hands in my pockets as I left, scanning the hall for an elevator that'd bring me up to the others.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

I didn't find an elevator, but I found some stairs, which brought me back up to the first floor. Once there, I found that the alarm had been triggered, and the metal shielding had slid over the doors and windows. A few bodies of guards and piles of dust littered the lobby. I just stepped over them and walked over to the elevator I'd taken before.

The elevator brought me up to the sixth floor slowly, so I took the time inside to wipe some of the blood from my face and hands. By the time the door opened, I'd gotten nearly all of it off, leaving my hand and parts of my face just slightly pinkish.

The floor was chaos. There were filing cabinets knocked over and shelves, which were being used as cover for the gunmen hiding behind them. Their backs were to me, so I quickly and silently took them out, shooting some glass shards that were on the floor besides me into the backs of their heads.

As everyone slumped to the floor, I made my way past the mess and continued down the hall, whistling to myself once again.

I found Peter and Noah not to much further. Peter was throwing someone through a glass door, while Noah shot at gunmen approaching from the other way. He was holding his left arm to him tightly, which was dripping blood from the elbow.

I threw one of the soldiers in front of me over the railing, hearing a sickening crunch as he impacted with the ground back on the first floor. Noah turned to look at me in surprise, and I gave him a little wave.

"You guys have much fun without me?" I asked as I caused the gunmen past him to fly back into everyone else in the hall.

"I wouldn't call getting shot 'fun,'" Noah grumbled as he shot another round of bullets. He winced as he had to use his injured arm to reload.

I ducked as Peter threw another person, this one sailing over my head and the railing. "Hey, kiddo," he greeted with a huff as he turned to the next person, who the sent flying into the others as I had. "You think you can get to an intercom and tell everyone to stop shooting at us?"

I clicked my feet together and saluted him. "Will do, Peter," I said in my most serious tone before walking towards Erica's office. Noah was saying something to me as I opened the door, but I didn't hear him and it closed a second later, effectively muffling the noises in the hall.

The office was the same, aside from one aspect. Sylar stood at the back, Erica raised in the air and pressed against the glass window. The body of the original Harris lay a few feet to my right, a gunshot through his head. I assumed Noah had put him down.

Sylar was saying something to Erica, but quickly stopped and turned around as I let out a chuckle. "You busy?" I asked him, walking over to the desk.

"Kid, you shouldn't be here," he muttered, looking at me to Erica.

I shrugged. "I just need to use the intercom, then I'll be out of here. Don't let me interrupt."

"I suspected this kind of violence from your father," Erica gasped out, a sneer on her face. "But you, Elena? What happened to trying to be a hero? Have you given up on that, in exchange for murdering the innocent?"

"James and Logan weren't really what I'd call 'innocent', nor are you, or any of your soldiers," I said as I scanned over the desk. I spotted a microphone-looking thing and picked it up, shooting her a look as I did. "We're being heroes by making sure the rest of the world doesn't suffer because you despise Evos."

I turned around, the two of them watching me as I walked towards the door. The cord for the microphone was long, so I was just going to step back into the hall to use it. I heard glass shatter and a high pitched scream as I closed the office door behind me. I didn't so much as blink.

Instead, I pressed the black button on the intercom. "Attention, soldiers of Erica Kravid's anti-Evo army, security guards for the building, and general staff," I said into the microphone. I made sure to list those, so the others wouldn't be effected by me.

At the sound of my voice, everyone who'd been shooting stopped, and the building fell silent. I heard Peter and Noah both utter sounds of relief. "All of you have been relieved of duty. You are to return to your homes and forget everything having to do with Evos and Renautus. Tomorrow, you will all find new work, and if you're asked questions about your previous job, simply answer with 'the company closed down.' That will be all."

As I let go of the button and the intercom turned off, the gunmen all dropped their weapons and began to walk away, walking right by Peter and Noah as if they'd never been shooting at them. Erica's office door opened as the men and women streamed past, and I could make out Sylar standing in the doorway, waiting for everyone to move.

It wasn't long before the hallway was clear, nothing left but a few bodies and bullet shells. 

I shot everyone a triumphant grin. "Looks like we're done here."

"And in the nick of time," Noah muttered, eyeing his watch. "The eclipse will begin any minute. C'mon, we'd better get back, or else we'll have to drive all the way home."

We all gathered around each other. Peter put his hands on Sylar's and Noah's shoulders, then I touched him with my red lightning and he teleported us back to Odessa.

 

Back home, we found the house just as we'd left it. Tommy, Emily and Emma were in the living room, telling each other stories and, in Tommy and Emily's case, explaining what all had changed since the past.

When we walked into the house, we were greeted by grins and hellos. Emma looked a bit unnerved by the blood splattered across all our clothes, but she didn't comment on it. She'd known what we were going to do before we'd left, so it wasn't like she could be surprised to find out we'd actually done it.

After telling Tommy all that had happened, he informed us that no one from Renautus had showed up, and they'd had a quiet night and watched a movie.

Peter took Noah into the kitchen to patch up his wound, being a nurse and all he knew how to do that, and Sylar and I took turns telling the others what had happened at Renautus. We both left out some of the more gruesome details for Emma's sake.

Pretty soon though, Noah was patched up and we were out of tales to tell. So, breaking the long silence that had been stretching out between all of us, I suggested we go watch the eclipse.

"Sounds good to me," Emma said with a grin, happy to be doing something relatively normal, and then we all went outside.

We stood lined up on the sidewalk, myself with Emma on my right and Sylar on my left. Peter stood on Sylar's other side, and past Emma was Emily, Tommy and Noah. We stood there, all gazing up at the sky as the sun and moon crossed paths.

Though the world became shrouded in darkness, I felt like we'd finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel.


	20. Chapter Twenty - Epilogue

It's October now. To think, it was this month two years ago that all this crazy stuff started. Seems like a good place to end my story as well.

Emma has been staying with us, and has adjusted to life of weirdness and abilities fairly easily now that the mess with Erica has been sorted out. She and Micah had really hit it off back at the Company headquarters, too. So she, now being fifteen, and him seventeen are dating. They make a cute couple, and she's clearly the boss in the relationship.

Tommy and Emily are still together, which is to be expected. It's like nothing can tear those two apart. They're not around much anymore, though. Emily wanted to see the world, so Tommy has been giving her a personal tour. Right now, I believe they're somewhere in Japan during the fifteen hundreds. I told them to bring me back a postcard.

As for Sylar, he's his normal self. He's still trying to get used to acting like a dad around me, but he's getting there. And Peter's been giving him pointers, though in a teasing sense, whenever he stops by for a visit.

Peter actually stopped working as a field agent at the Company recently. He's gone back into the medical field and works as a paramedic at the Odessa hospital. It's amazing how he can go back to a normal life after everything that's been going on.

Since our trip to Renautus, Noah has been taking it easy too. His arm is still healing, since he's too stubborn to let any of us heal it for him, so he's been sticking to office work at the Company. Now Nathan is taking over his original duties.

How have I been? I've been... Content, since everything that's happened. I've gotten over killing James and Logan, for as soon as the hunger wore off I was upset about what I'd done. But I'm good now, and sorta numb to killing people. Like, I'll do it if I have to and I'll do it without complaint, but if I don't have to then I won't. It's, ah, sorta complicated to explain.

I welcome the numbness though, because my sudden lack of empathy has made it easier to control the hunger. These past few months, I've only had one incident where it got out of hand, but I was able to calm myself down pretty quickly.

Mohinder and I were talking the other day and he thinks the reason I was having trouble controlling the hunger was because I was scared of hurting people with it, and the stress that was causing was making it unstable. But now, now that I honestly don't care what I have to do, I can get it under wraps and make sure I never hurt anyone with it again. Everyone is a bit unnerved that I don't mind killing anymore, but I just let them be. I enjoy freaking people out a bit.

Along with this, I got my job at the Company again. I'm an actual field agent now, and Emma is in training to be my partner. One of us, one of them, you know? I think she's going to like the job.

Now, everything is settled and, well, not necessarily _back_ to normal since things were never normal to begin with, but I guess it's normal now. Things are settled and normal, and odds are they'll stay that way for the time being.

Tommy and I will be turning seventeen in a few months, and with a new year comes new adventures, new places to explore and new friends, or enemies, to make.

I wonder what will happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though the book's title may be "The End," this really isn't it. There's 1-2 more books after this, that just follow a different plot from these. Though they won't be added to the site for awhile. I wanna finish them first. :P


End file.
